Across Two Worlds
by wyldcat
Summary: Getting Chihiro to come to the spirit world is no problem. However, to stay there permanently with her friends is another thing. The ruling Great spirits believe humans belong to their own world, and with the myriad of obstacles to hamper their way…
1. Magic Display

Hey everyone! This is going to be my first long fanfic.

(This story has nothing to do with my other one.)

I also won't be updating too often because I'm working on other stories as well…

DISCLAIMER: Obviously don't own anything out of the movie. Same for all other chapters.

* * *

Rin admitted that she was more than a little sorry to see Sen leave. First, she once again had no helper, and more importantly, two, she was beginning to miss her strange, human nature. 

She had weird tastes too. Who would have liked Yubaba's henchman in the first place? But when she saw the two of them together, she realised that it was no accidental or casual flirtation. Kamaji had called it 'love'.

Love. It was almost an alien concept to her, but not quite. She had heard of the word, of course. But she had never experienced it. Well, maybe she had, but that was probably a long time ago, something in her past that she couldn't remember.

_Damn you, Yubaba, for stealing our names._

Pulling herself back to the present, she showed her fat, duck-like customer the tub, grabbed a tag and latched it onto the rope and tugged it. She waited for the tap-like thing to come down and then she yanked on the rope. The supposedly 'good-for-you' dried worm salts mixed in with the water poured into the bath.

Suddenly there was a huge explosion that shook the bathhouse. Then a flash of light came from outside, and panicked customers and workers started running in every direction. Rin abandoned her fat customer and ran to the nearest window.

She gaped at the sight before her. High in the velvet night sky was Yubaba, pelting high-energy fireballs at a boy with greenish-brown hair. The air around them was alive, sizzling and crackling noisily. Rin squinted at the boy, trying to make out who it was. Then she realised.

"Haku?" she said aloud.

Haku was dodging most of the fireballs, but occasionally he was forced to raise a shield that was barely visible against the dark sky. Then he went on offensive, striking out with a strange liquid-blue substance, but Yubaba simply waved it away and launched her next attack.

"C'mon Haku!" Rin whispered, her fingernails digging into her palms. Suddenly she wondered when she had taken a friendly liking to him.

More and more customers and workers had come to the windows, and they were watching the intense magic display in awe. It wasn't often that one saw something like this.

Yubaba was forcing Haku further and further away from the bathhouse. Then she quickly threw fireballs in every direction, producing a hazardous crossfire. Haku raised the shield again, but Yubaba sent a spinning disc of orange that sliced the air towards him. Haku knew that disc was powerful enough to go straight through the shield so he flew out of the way, but not quickly enough. The disc brushed against his left arm, burning his skin. He clenched his teeth to prevent himself from crying out. The last thing he needed was Yubaba knowing that she had gained an advantage.

Then she let loose a powerful green, sizzling bolt. Haku knew better than to block that, so he dodged again.

Yubaba smiled with glee. The boy was tiring and she could see he was trying his best not to show it.

What a stubborn dragon.

Haku counterattacked, thrusting his right hand out. A black bubble enveloped her, but only for a moment.

Then a brilliant flash of pure white light lit up the sky. It was one of Yubaba's favourite tactics – both a defensive and offensive at the same time. The spell was meant to blind someone temporarily.

Seeing the flash from Yubaba, Rin threw up her hand to protect her eyes from the blinding light. When the light dimmed, she lowered her hand, but bright colours were still flashing in her eyes, and she couldn't see anything for several seconds. When her vision cleared, she saw that several unlucky spirits around her were still stumbling around and banging into walls.

Rin quickly looked out the window, but all she saw was Yubaba heading back to her home on the top floor, her expression unreadable.

Haku had disappeared.

* * *

Please review! 

And if anyone would like to suggest some names for Rin's real name (like Sen's real name is Chihiro etc.) please do!

Other familiar characters will be coming along soon, don't worry.

_Reposted 22/11/05 to remove review responses_


	2. Discussing

Yay! Got 4 reviews! Thanks so much for reviewing! It makes one want to keep writing.

This chapter's shorter than usual because if I did the next bit, it'd be heaps long, and I don't want long chapters. It'd also take longer to update (since I haven't written it yet – hehe!)

* * *

After closing time, Rin went down the elevators to the boiler room to see Kamaji.

Getting down there took her longer than she expected, as it was already common knowledge that she was a friend of Sen, and Sen was a friend of Haku. So the workers had bombarded her with questions about the magic display outside, and the best Rin could do was to tell them to shut up and go away.

But a few frogs even went as far to ambush her in a narrow corridor.

When she finally got downstairs, she was in a very bad mood. To make things worse, Kamaji was only half-listening to her while he busily tidied up the boiler room with all six arms.

At last Rin managed to get his total attention and told him what happened between Yubaba and Haku.

At length, she finished angrily, "And all the stupid frogs and slugs and who knows _what _came running after me later, asking questions!"

"Haku, huh?" was all Kamaji said, obviously not listening to Rin's angry complaints.

"Yes, Haku! Who did you think I was talking about, boiler man?" Her patience was seriously wearing thin.

Kamaji scratched his head with one long black fingernail. "What did he say…? It was only this afternoon…" he trailed off, thinking.

Rin's anger dissipated somewhat as she watched him with raised eyebrows while shooing away the susuwatari around her – they thought it was mealtime again.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, remembering. "Haku said he was going to Yubaba to quit his apprenticeship."

She scoffed, "And how's he supposed to do that? He can't leave unless he's got his name back."

"Oh, but he does. Chihiro gave it to him."

"Who?"

"The girl, remember? Sen."

"_Her_? I _knew_ there was something between them!" she whooped. Then she calmed down and asked, "So what's his name?"

"Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi."

Rin raised her eyebrows again and said, "That's a long one."

"Hmm," Kamaji agreed. "So Yubaba got mad with him because he quit?"

"Looks like it."

Kamaji asked, "And did you see if Yubaba was angry…happy…anything?"

"Nope."

The mood darkened in the room, and even the susawatari quietened and stopped jumping up and down for food.

"You think he's all right?"

"We'll see," was all Kamaji said.

"Well," said Rin, falsely cheerful, "I'd better go up. Get some rest."

She slid through the low wooden panel and disappeared.

* * *

Stick around, everyone! More characters coming along!

And I know you want to review. Go on, click the button…that's right. Clicking the button brings you good luck!

_Reposted 22/11/05_ _to remove review responses_


	3. Through the Tunnel

I'll be updating slower from now on, because the holidays are over and school's started. And we have our yearly exams soon, so I'm pretty much _forced_ to study. :P

Can you believe it? I got 13 reviews all together for two chapters! That is way better than anything I've got for my stuff in fictionpress, and I thought I was really bad at writing fanfics! Thank you so much everyone!

Disclaimer: again, just in case you've forgotten. And since I felt like putting it. You know what goes here.

Oh yeah, this is a longer chapter. Just in case you didn't notice. Heh.

* * *

The white dragon flew lower than usual – just under the thick clouds heavy with rain. Below him was the train line.

Apart from being a little scorched and completely exhausted – so much that it took an effort to fly – Kohaku was fine.

Just then he unintentionally dropped another few metres, being tired as he was. He bit back the urge to growl in frustration at his weakness. _I'm fine, I'm fine, _he kept repeating to himself, to keep on going, to get to his destination. _Just a bit further…_

But Swamp Bottom was still some way off, the rain clouds were hovering menacingly, and he knew his energy was draining away.

But he was really quite lucky, though. That blinding spell Yubaba used had quickly been followed by a powerful energy-draining spell. Since he couldn't see for those few moments, he instinctively put up the shield again. Or maybe he dodged…he couldn't remember. Whatever it was, only part of the spell hit him, which was the reason why he was still flying and not somewhere on the ground…or worse, in a tight spot with Yubaba.

He noted that the temperature had dropped and he glanced upwards. The clouds were steadily getting darker, and the air smelt of rain. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the water came down in thick, blanket-like sheets. Kohaku was instantly soaked through. The world blurred around him, water droplets flying everywhere. He tried shaking the water out of him, but as soon as he did, more came pouring down. And he couldn't fly above the clouds – it was already hard enough to fly steadily.

Trying to keep the optimism in him, he thought, _At least it's not a thunderstorm._

Far off to his left, a lightning flash lit the dark sky.

At long last, Zeniba's cottage came into view. By now, he was flying very low, barely making it above the tree tops. The rain was still going as heavy as ever, or perhaps heavier. Coming to the wide open space in the yard, he let himself fall, not bothering with a graceful descent.

He landed heavily outside the front door, the mud splattering on his scales and fur. The dragon lay there for a moment, relieved. Then he changed back and pulled himself to his feet, just as Kaonashi opened the front door.

Kohaku staggered inside, nodding his thanks to him. Seeing Zeniba by the fireplace, he bowed respectfully, while trying to indiscreetly wipe off all the mud and squeeze the water out of his clothes and hair.

Zeniba smiled kindly and said, "No need for formality, Haku. Sit here."

Kohaku went over and collapsed into the chair she indicated.

"So you flew all the way? Without stopping?" she asked while spooning out a liquid mixture into a cup from the pot over the fire.

Kohaku nodded, letting the warmth of the fire wash over him.

She asked with a trace of exasperation, "Is there a good reason for that? You could have killed yourself, you know."

Kohaku opened his mouth to explain when Zeniba interjected, "You can tell me later. Right now, you have to drink this."

She handed him the cup, and he took it dubiously, staring at the strange reddish liquid inside it.

Watching him, she joked, "It's not poison!"

A little embarrassed now, Kohaku did as she said, not enjoying the strange taste in his mouth. But almost immediately he felt less tired. He could almost feel the energy inside him expanding and spreading everywhere.

When he had finished, he handed her back the cup and said, "Thank you, Zeniba-san."

"I told you, Haku, there's no need for formality. Just call me Granny."

He nodded, still uncertain.

"Now then," she continued, "you can rest here tonight. Kaonashi, will you get that mattress and put it in that corner?"

"It's okay, Zeniba," Kohaku interrupted, "I'm not staying the night. I'm going to Chihiro now."

She looked at him, saying, "Haku, that herbal drink I gave you doesn't give you energy. What it's really doing is expanding whatever you have left."

"Then why did you give me that?"

"Because there _isn't_ a herbal drink that gives you energy. All they do is just expand what you have. So if you push yourself, you'd only get even more tired than before. That's why you need rest. You should know that."

Kohaku nodded shortly. He did know about it, but he decided to ignore that.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." He stood up and walked to the door.

"You stubborn dragon!" Zeniba snapped. "You aren't going to last the trip back to the tunnel. Not even halfway."

Kohaku glared at her, annoyed that she was right. Zeniba met his gaze unflinchingly. Kaonashi looked on a little way off, frozen in the act of laying down the mattress.

Then she said more soothingly, "Chihiro can wait. She'll still be there tomorrow."

Kohaku was still a little unsure.

Zeniba added, "Knowing her, she wouldn't be very happy to see you half-dead at her doorstep, hmm? Come along now."

She herded him in the direction of the mattress, and Kohaku decided to give in.

He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

- - -

Kohaku had awoken almost a whole day later, according to Zeniba. He had stayed around long enough to have something to eat and tell Zeniba the latest news concerning Yubaba, Chihiro and the like, and then he was off.

The sun was rising in the east, bathing the world in its orange glow. The sun rays reflected off his silver scales, giving a vivid, sparkling, golden effect. The storm clouds from yesterday were moving on, no more than a little patch of dark grey, and soon that too disappeared. All that was left were little cloud streaks, tinged with red from the rising sun. The sky was truly beautiful, and Kohaku carefully placed the scene in his memory.

It was late morning when he landed outside the tunnel and changed back to his boy form. He looked up the hill to the 'amusement park', and wondered idly what would happen to him if the old witch realised he was standing right near her bathhouse. Then his attention turned back to the tunnel.

He took a few steps closer and stopped. His gaze was riveted to the seemingly depthless black. Then he thought, annoyed at himself, _It's just a tunnel._

He pushed down his discomfort and walked straight in.

* * *

Guess who's coming up next? Hehe.

I hope the description parts were okay. Tell me if they weren't. Also tell me if they were. ;)

Well, go on. **Review**. Make me happy! Tell me what you think! So that I get a distraction from stupid studying and school! Be nice… :D

Constructive criticism welcome. Flames not so welcome, but if you want to, go ahead.

_CLICK THE BUTTON! RIGHT THERE!_

_Reposted 22/11/05_ _to remove review responses_


	4. Seeing Chihiro

I _do_ realise that I haven't updated for more than a week. I was starting to feel bad, so I shoved aside the tons of homework, assignments (and purposefully forgot that I have those yearly exams in two weeks) and wrote this chapter. It's longer than the other chapters (hehe) and I hope you like it! And I'm sorry for not updating for more than a week.

Thanks to all that reviewed!

(imagine a disclaimer here)

* * *

Kohaku emerged from the tunnel and walked down the dirt track, the only clearly-marked route he could see. There was a slight, unusual bounce in his step, as he could barely contain his excitement at seeing Chihiro again. It was only a few days but it felt like ages.

Looking up at the small town at the top of the hill, he realised with a start that he didn't know where Chihiro lived. After a moment of contemplating that fact, he decided to ask the first person he saw. Suddenly he wondered if he was going to start disappearing like Chihiro did, when she was in the spirit world. He looked down at himself, but he was still solid as ever.

Walking past a block of houses, he noticed that across the road in a park, there was a man sitting on a bench with his back to the road. Deciding to ask him for directions, he walked over and asked politely, "Excuse me sir, do you know where a girl named Chihiro lives?"

The man didn't even acknowledge his presence.

Kohaku tried again, "Excuse me?"

He leaned over to get a better look at the man, peering under his hat. His eyes were blank and seemingly looking right through Kohaku. He hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand up and down in front of his face. He didn't even blink.

Then he stood up and began to walk unseeingly into Kohaku. He jumped out of the way just in time, thereby bumping into a nearby rosebush.

"Watch it!" said a girlish voice from within.

Kohaku jumped again. Laughing, the rose spirit materialised from the bush. She had soft pink hair and a slight greenish cast to her skin. Long lashes and gracefully rounded hips completed the definite feminine look.

She asked teasingly, "Surprised seeing a spirit when you're one yourself?" She looked him up and down. "A river spirit?"

Kohaku nodded slightly.

"Nice, but you're pretty young. However…" she trailed off, eyeing him appraisingly. Then she rushed on, "My name's Tenshi Bara." She bowed.

He returned the gesture formally and said, "Kohaku."

"Short name."

He nodded, agreeing, as he didn't really want to give her his whole name just yet. He didn't trust her suggestiveness.

She rattled on, "I haven't heard of the Kohaku River. Is it around here?"

He shook his head slightly.

"Oh well." Then she switched topics quick as lightning. "Say, you do know that humans can't see you when you're still in the spirit world, right?"

He blinked. "This isn't the human world?"

Bara rolled her eyes heavenward and said, "Of course not, silly. If a stinky human ever saw us, they'd probably scream in terror and go insane while they're at it. They're all like that."

Kohaku gave her a hard look that went unnoticed.

"So," she said invitingly, "if you're not in a hurry or anything, you can keep me company for a while, couldn't you? Those tree spirits are so very boring."

He was tongue-tied for a moment. "Actually…do you know where a girl called Chihiro lives?"

She pouted. "You don't want to stay?"

"Maybe another time," he lied blandly.

The rose spirit brightened. "All right then. It's that blue house over there." She pointed to the end of the street. "Though I can't imagine _why _you want to see a stinky human," she grumbled. Still muttering about the unfairness of life and crazy spirits, she disappeared back into her rosebush.

Kohaku sighed almost audibly in relief. Then he set off down the street.

The rose spirit was right, though. This couldn't be the human world. Sure, he could see and hear the humans walking down the street all right, but they couldn't see him. For the better, perhaps. After all, what would they think when they saw a strange boy wearing the traditional dress when they were wearing modern clothes?

It was strange though – both worlds were in the same place but at the same time they weren't. It was confusing, and he decided he'd have to ask Zeniba about that sometime.

Then a thought struck him. If he was technically still in the spirit world, and humans couldn't see or hear him, how was Chihiro supposed to know he was here? But he kept going. He wanted to at least catch a glimpse of her.

Reaching the blue house the rose spirit had indicated, he looked up. It was a small, cosy two-storey house with four windows – two upstairs and two downstairs. There was a little gravel path that led up to a dark blue door, the colour matching the wooden gate in front of him.

He pushed it open, but to his shock, his hand went straight through the painted wood. He pulled back his hand from it as if it were hot iron. Then he cautiously tried again, with the same results.

Suddenly realisation dawned upon him and he almost smiled at his stupidity. He was in the spirit world, and the gate was in the human world. It was so simple.

He walked right through the fence and straight into the front door, coming out to a short, carpeted hallway. It was dimly lit, and significantly cooler than outside. From the sunlit room at the end of the hallway floated voices, one of which he could recognise. His pulse quickened and he hurried towards the sound.

And then he saw her. The all too innocent, childlike face, her soft voice carrying across the room, the brown hair; everything…she looked exactly as he remembered her. Though it had only been a few days, but still…

"Dad, did you find out why the movers had already left when we came? We had only been a little while through that tunnel," Chihiro was saying.

That brought Kohaku up short.

Her dad replied from across the table, "I don't know, all they said was we didn't come for several days, so they left. I'm sure they were lying. Lousy movers…never using them again." He tucked into his lunch.

Chihiro's mother advised, "You should lodge a complaint."

Chihiro poked her food absently. "But Dad, didn't you tell them they were wrong? That they're playing some trick on us?" She looked around the table. "It couldn't have been days," she said firmly, "we just went in to look at that theme park and came straight back out. Right, mummy?"

"That's right, honey."

Kohaku backed away slowly, not wanting to hear anymore. She had forgotten everything. She had forgotten the spirit world, her adventures, and her friends. She had forgotten _him_.

A wave of sadness engulfed him, and he felt as if he had been tricked. Yet, strangely enough, he felt no hate towards her. In a strange way, he accepted her decision; her choosing to forget him. But he knew he would always love her.

He blinked back tears, standing alone in the dark corridor. Suddenly he spun on his heel and left, never to return.

* * *

Okay, now that you've read that, it's time for you to **_REVIEW!_** Yes, that's right. Tell me what you think! All kinds of comments (good/bad/rude) are welcome!

I hear that pressing the blue button for submitting reviews does indeed bring you good luck. ;)

_Reposted 22/11/05_ _to remove review responses_


	5. The Map

Oops, it's been…like a _month_ and I haven't updated! Okay, I'm really, really sorry! Y'see, I had exams, and then more stuff popping up everywhere… I assure you – I didn't get the dreaded writer's block. I've never got it, and I hope I never will. :D

I've finally finished writing the next chapter (YAY!) Hope everyone likes it!

* * *

"So did you find her, Haku? Or Kohaku? Which do you prefer?"

Kohaku swirled the tea around in his cup, staring into the depths of it. "It doesn't matter."

Zeniba and Kaonashi both exchanged looks, puzzled by his depression. This went a little too far for not being able to find Chihiro.

Wanting to knock a bit of sense back into him, she asked bluntly, "Was that for the first or second question?"

Still refusing to make eye contact, he mumbled into his tea, "Both."

"You're going to have to speak up, Haku," she said loudly.

"Both," he repeated, louder. Suddenly he felt very stupid – somehow when one said something like that louder, it didn't quite fit the way it should have when saying it softly.

Zeniba sat down across the table, looking straight at Kohaku. "Did you find her?" She repeated her initial question.

He nodded.

"And?" she pressed.

Barely audible, he said, "She doesn't remember me. Or you, or any of us."

Zeniba sat back. So that was why he was so distant. Comfortingly, she said, "It usually happens, you know."

His head jerked up. "What?"

"When humans go back to their world, they forget things. Even her parents don't remember being pigs."

"But why did she have to forget _everything_?"

Zeniba almost laughed. His question sounded so childish.

"Think, Haku. If she went back and started talking about spirits, the other humans will think she's crazy. It's for the better, really. But," she said quickly, seeing Kohaku about to protest, "that doesn't mean you can't help Chihiro to remember. It isn't the end of the world for you."

He said dejectedly, "She can't even hear me."

"True," she conceded. "But if you could go into her world and talk to her…"

His eyes lit up. "How?" he asked.

"The five Great spirits, remember? They can open portals to many different worlds. Kaonashi, would you get that map off the shelf, please? The big, old one."

Kaonashi handed her the map, and Zeniba unrolled it completely. Kohaku leaned over and his eyes narrowed as he saw the blank parchment. Seeing his expression, Zeniba explained, "It's a rare magical map. Very old, as I said."

She waved her hand over the paper, and slowly, then faster, the shape of the land rose up from the parchment like clay being moulded. The map glowed an eerie, flickering electric green, illuminating their faces.

Zeniba's gnarled finger traced the route. "You'll have to circle around Kaji Mountain. It still hasn't stopped belching lava." As if on cue the model of the volcano sprouted red fire that dissipated just as soon as it had appeared.

She continued, "The best way is to follow the Giniro River. It leads you straight to…here – the Five Pillars of the World." She lightly tapped the location with one long fingernail, making wispy blue lines of fire form the outline and diagonals of the pentagon shape.

"The Five Pillars?" Kohaku echoed.

"Yes. Where the Great spirits dwell. When you get there, ask them if they could open a portal to the human world. Explain about Chihiro and your feelings for her."

He looked up, startled. "What feelings?"

Zeniba chuckled, "Think I don't know? You may be good at hiding a lot of things, Haku, but not this one."

Kohaku refused to meet her gaze, instead took to staring at the three-dimensional map. Finally he said, "I better go. Thanks for your help, Zeniba-san." He headed for the door.

"Just 'Granny'," she corrected absently.

Just as he was about to leave, Zeniba said suddenly, "Oh, one other thing Haku."

He turned around to face her.

"Be very formal and polite to the Great spirits. Be _very _polite."

Kohaku gave her a long look before nodding. Then he went out to the front yard, changed into his dragon form, and flew off.

* * *

_So, Kohaku meets up with those five spirits. Are they going to open a portal for him? That'll be answered in the next chapter! _

Okay everyone, now, **REVIEW! **It's not _that _hard to just click on that button. You can be very close-mouthed if you like, eg. Good story/Bad story.

It's not too hard to press Submit either.

Go on.

_Reposted 22/11/05_ _to remove review responses_


	6. The Great Spirits

Next chappie everyone! Hopefully it's quicker coming up this time.

* * *

The glittering silver river wended and twisted its way through the land. Kohaku decided that the river had been appropriately named – if not a little unimaginative.

He could see the land changing. It was becoming steadily flatter and turning into a beige colour. The air around him felt different – stiff and drier.

Finally the Giniro River became a mere trickle in the wasteland, dried up from the constant sun. Then the dry, cracked surface rolled beneath him.

His keen eyesight finally spotted the Pillars, no more than a tiny speck on the horizon. He sped up and then landed a comfortable distance away from where the Great spirits resided. He changed back and walked the rest of the way.

Kohaku could never have guessed how huge the structure was. It looked rather small on Zeniba's map, but in reality, the sandstone columns towered into the sky, casting long shadows across the land. There was a vast sandstone platform on which the pillars were on, with a flight of uneven stairs leading up to it.

On the sandstone platform, strange patterns were engraved into the rock. Kohaku stopped on the edge of the platform, feeling the fey magic wash over him in like waves. He had never felt so much raw energy anywhere, and it gave him an uncomfortable, prickling sensation.

Then he heard a voice in the wind. "Come closer," it breathed.

Kohaku stood, uncertain of what the voice meant.

"Stand in the centre."

He obliged – though a little hesitantly. Seeing the centre marked out by a circle that had a comfortable standing space within, he guessed that he had to step inside the circle. As soon as he did, the wispy blue 'fire' – as he thought of it – flared up, but much higher than what he had seen on the map. It spread outwards from the engraved circle he was in, along the patterns and twisting up the tall columns, finally forming a canopy of incandescent blue. Kohaku was awestruck by the beauty of it.

Then the Great spirits emerged from their stone pillars. With one look at each of them, Kohaku knew who was who. According to the ancient lore, Kuuki Kami – the Air spirit – had long white hair that flowed out behind her on the wind; Mizu Kami with her curly cerulean hair and eyes that changed colour with her mood; Shi Kami, his aura as dark as his purpose; Inochi Kami with her stunning animalistic golden eyes providing sharp contrast with her emerald hair; and finally Chikiu Kami the Earth spirit, towering above them all.

They gathered around Kohaku, dwarfing him. Chikiu Kami studied him for a while, then asked in his deep voice, "Your name?"

"Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi, Chikiu-sama," he said with utmost respect. Suddenly remembering, he bowed deeply.

Mizu Kami's eyes changed from iron grey to a deep sapphire blue in an instant and said, "A river spirit, with no home."

Kohaku averted his gaze from those captivating eyes before he replied, "Yes."

She continued, "You've come a long way, haven't you?"

"Yes," he repeated.

Chikiu Kami boomed, "Why did you come to seek us out?"

"I come to ask you a favour."

"Hmm," was all he said, and Kohaku took that to be a 'sure'. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the Air spirit roll her eyes in Chikiu Kami's direction.

"Do you know of the portal to the human world? The one you closed a few days ago?"

The Great spirits nodded.

He asked tentatively, "Well…do you suppose you could reopen it? For a short while, if it's not too much trouble?"

This time Inochi Kami asked, "Why should we open it again?"

Her sister Kuuki Kami added, "It's meant to be closed at all times anyway." She rambled on, "Though I can't see _how_ in the world it could have opened. Completely an accident. Don't you think, dear?"

"Maybe."

They all turned as one to look at Shi Kami.

"What?" She said aside to the others, "Looks like he's decided to talk a bit more in front of visitors!"

"Could be the Trickster," was all he said.

"Tsukioukami?" she asked.

Shi Kami nodded in reply.

"Ha! Tanuki might have been a good teacher, but his apprentice was far more talented than he." She laughed then, a pretty musical sound. Then she conceded, "Yes, it was probably him. Remind me to pay him a visit sometime. Anyone coming?"

Then they all laughed long and loud at what seemed to be an ongoing joke.

During their digression, Kohaku investigated the blue 'flames' around him. He had cautiously pushed his hand into it and surprisingly found it completely devoid of heat.

Chikiu Kami noticed Kohaku outside the conversation, and in his deep rumbling voice, he said loudly, "Ahem." The other four spirits immediately snapped back to attention. He continued, "As a reminder, we were asking Kohaku about why he wanted the portal reopened."

All five spirits fixed him with penetrating gazes, and suddenly he became very self-conscious of himself. He paused to order his thoughts, then said, "Well, there's a human there – in the human world." Silently he cursed himself, realising how pathetic his starting sounded. He tried again, "I'd like her to come back to our world." Then remembering what Zeniba said, he added, "I like her."

Inwardly, he thought that sounded weak and shallow, but the Greater spirits seemed to sense a deeper meaning in his words.

Inochi Kami observed to the others, "He's not the first one to fall in love with a human." Then she said to Kohaku, "But hasn't your human's memory of the spirit world been erased?"

"Well yes, but if she could see me again, maybe she'll remember." It was more of a wishful statement than anything else.

They nodded, and Kuuki Kami said, "A moment, please." Then they all disappeared back into their respective pillars, but Kohaku knew they were not gone. He could feel the magic even more high-strung, and there was a disembodied, wordless whisper circling the place. He guessed that the spirits were having a private chat, so he sat down within the circle to wait.

Some time later, the spirits re-emerged, and Chikiu Kami began, "We will not open the portal again."

Kohaku lowered his eyes, sad and angry at the same time of the outcome.

But Kuuki Kami butted in and said despairingly, "Brother, why must you begin so pessimistically?" She turned to Kohaku. "It's true that we aren't opening the portal again, only because Tsukioukami would probably use that in some way to his advantage."

Kohaku gave her a questioning look but didn't press it.

"It's not because of you that we don't want to open the portal. So we've decided to be very kind," her eyes flashed with genuine pleasure and she glanced around at her brothers and sisters, "and we'll help you in another way."

She motioned to Shi Kami, and he came before Kohaku. He looked up at the spirit of death, slightly fearful and asked, "What are you going to do?"

"Just relax," was Shi Kami's only reply. He raised his hands to Kohaku's temples and slowly closed his eyes.

* * *

This chapter was originally longer, but I wanted to save the second part of it for the next chapter. That next chapter is the last chapter for the set-up for my story. That's when we get into the REAL stuff. That is, more characters, more Kamaji and Rin, and Chihiro. STICK AROUND!

Well? What do you think? I want to know what you think Shi Kami is going to do! And are the Japanese names all right? And who's Tsukioukami?

**REVIEW!** Constructive criticism welcome! Flames also (though I'm not going to like it very much). I don't care if your review is _really _short!

Those who review make me _very _happy!

_Reposted 17/01/06_ _for…reasons._


	7. Who?

I got six reviews this time! Yay! (Well, at least I think so.)

* * *

There were vivid, gaudy colours swirling in random patterns all around him. There was no sense of location, so he tried looking around. But it wasn't exactly 'looking'; it was like feeling, but not exactly that either. If there was a word for it, he didn't know it.

Then he realised – this was him. This was his memories and feelings. This was where his mind created the rules and laws. And it felt strange, knowing for the first time how everything inside him worked.

Gently, from the outside, he felt another presence. Reflexively he pushed his mind back against the invader. It withdrew cautiously, seeking another way in without disrupting. Then Kohaku suddenly remembered Shi Kami telling him to relax, so he let down his mental barriers and the other consciousness entered his mind.

He let it explore for a while, noting that it took particular interest in his memories of Chihiro. It also lingered over his memories of Aburaya, his missions that Yubaba sent him on, but it always came back to the short time he had spent with Chihiro. Then the other presence seemed to take over his thought, like it was trying to force him to do things he didn't want to do.

At first the presence tried to make him rid himself of the images of Chihiro, but Kohaku strongly rebelled against that, forcefully pushing the other consciousness away from his memories. Faintly, he thought he heard Shi Kami say, "He's a strong one."

The presence attempted to enter again, but Kohaku barricaded it out. He firmly told himself that he would keep doing this forever, so long as the other didn't mess around with his memories of Chihiro. Suddenly the other picked up on his strategy, and built on the newly-created barrier. Kohaku attempted to destroy it, but it was near impossible – it was like fighting himself from the inside.

Then he felt the presence take over him again with much more control than before, and suddenly it was _he _that was pushing the memories of Chihiro into those barriers, now shaped like a box. He fought against the Great spirit, trying to push it out, but without success. He stopped then, not wishing to tire himself more than necessary.

Unexpectedly, he 'saw' that the last of the memories were through, and now the box was slowly beginning to close. Suddenly he understood. He wasn't sure how he knew though, but he knew this: if Shi Kami sealed the box, then his memories of Chihiro would be lost forever.

Forgetting his earlier decision to reserve his energy, Kohaku threw all his mental strength against Shi Kami, but it was pointless – the Great spirit was too strong. The spirit was probably only using a fraction of his power, Kohaku thought bitterly. Still, that didn't stop him from trying.

Abruptly, the box was sealed and at the same time, his mind exploded in pain.

-----

Kohaku's vision cleared, and with a start, he realised he was sitting on the ground with no memory of how he got there. He looked up at the spirits crowding over him with expectant faces. Then Kuuki Kami extended her hand and Kohaku thankfully accepted her help.

"All right there?" she asked as she pulled him to his feet.

He nodded and asked, "What happened?"

"You – " she began but Chikiu Kami overrode her.

"Who is Chihiro?" he asked intently.

Kohaku frowned at the strange question. "Who?"

But he had already asked another one. "Has there ever been a human at Aburaya?"

He thought for a moment, then said, "Yes, but they all got turned into pigs by Yubaba."

This went on for a while, Chikiu Kami asking strange questions about him and ignoring Kohaku's, and Kuuki Kami quipping her brother's words after almost every sentence.

Finally the Earth spirit turned to Shi Kami. "Good job," he said.

Shi Kami merely nodded.

Then Chikiu Kami said formally, "We have helped you, Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi, and you are in our debt."

Mizu Kami added, "Though you don't have to pay it off right away."

The frivolous Air spirit chimed in, "Take no notice of the old fool. He's always trying to be formal."

Chikiu Kami ignored her. "Perhaps you should try to find your river, or get a new home. We wish you luck."

The Great spirits nodded as one, and then they abruptly disappeared into their pillars. Slowly the blue fire flickered and died, leaving Kohaku standing very alone in the engraved circle.

He felt empty, like he was missing something but he didn't know what. Sighing, he went down the stone steps and walked some way off before turning around and looking at the Five Pillars, and wondered what had made him go there in the first place. Shaking his head slightly, he kept walking.

Suddenly he decided to go and look for his river, like Chikiu Kami suggested he do. Maybe he had a better chance of finding it this time, and since he had nothing important to do, well, why not?

-----

"It's for the better! If we didn't make him forget about that human, he'd be suffering more than he needs to!"

"Ha!" was all Kuuki Kami said.

"Besides, the human has forgotten him. Better save him from grief when he finds that he can't bring the human's memories back," Inochi Kami stated.

Shi Kami added, "Remember, Kuuki, they have weak minds. It's a slim chance."

Kuuki Kami said dismissively, "Yes, yes, I know. But the point is: this human of his was already deeply ingrained in his life, correct?" She turned to Shi Kami.

Receiving the affirmative, she continued, "So by removing his memories of the human, you've taken a _huge _chunk out of his being. Look!" She pointed towards the dragon spiralling into the sky. "You can see he's lost something."

"And that, Kuuki," said Chikiu Kami, "is based on opinion, not fact."

"Well, can't you see it as well?"

Mizu Kami said dryly, "All I see is a dragon."

Kuuki Kami snapped, "You're not part of this, _sister_."

"Grow up, Kuuki," said Inochi Kami loudly. "You're too sentimental. What's done is done. End of discussion."

"Discussion? Don't you mean dogfight?" Shi Kami observed pointedly.

Kuuki Kami threw her hands up in exasperation. "Whatever. But you'll see. You'll see I'm right." She paused, then threw Shi Kami's words back in his own mouth. "'He's a strong one' – you said that yourself, didn't you, Shi?"

* * *

That chapter wasn't too weird, was it? Hopefully not.

Ah well, as usual, tell me what you think! I love reviews!

I don't mind if you type a couple of words. And all kinds of reviews accepted!

_Reposted 22/11/05_ _to remove review responses_


	8. I Remember

This has got to be my longest chapter yet! Well, I hope everyone enjoys! And sorry if the characters are out-of-character and a little disjointed in places – I had to keep rewriting parts because I wasn't really happy with it.

I do realise that I'm somewhat in between using the original Japanese names and the English names. Maybe sometime I'll change all the Yubaba's to Yu-Baaba and Zeniba to Zeniiba. Anyway…

DISCLAIMER: you know what. I felt like putting it here today.

* * *

Kohaku sighed deeply. 

For the past year, he had been wandering around, looking for his river, but with little success. He had found a tiny trickle of it up near a mountain, but as the closer it got to human settlement, it slowly dribbled away to nothing, leaving him sadder than before. He also vaguely remembered someone telling him that the humans had filled in his river and built apartments over it. _Another reason to hate humans, _he thought sourly.

He didn't know why, but all this while, ever since he visited the Great spirits to ask them about something, he felt like a part of him was missing – which was strange, because he didn't know _why _he was missing something. But all the same, he felt like a lost spirit more than ever.

He gazed out at the steadily pouring rain and the bleary clouds from his perch in a huge tree. The tree spirit was kind enough to give him shelter until the storm passed, and he was grateful for that.

Maybe he should visit Aburaya, he thought. He was sick of wandering around, so it'd be nice to see Kamaji again to keep his mind off his river. Or what _was _his river.

But Yubaba was a problem, for he was quite certain that even after all this time, she'd still have no hesitations about ripping him to pieces, as she once threatened to do. That was the main reason why he hadn't gone back for a year or so.

Still, it might be worthwhile, as he had nothing to do. In fact, he was nothing more than a homeless wanderer. Maybe Kamaji could give him some ideas on where to find a home. And it'd be nice to see the susuwatari again. So what if he got into trouble?

Concluding so, he waited out the storm before travelling once more.

* * *

Kohaku skimmed as low as he could over the dirtier outlying buildings of Aburaya, keeping to the shadows. It was almost nightfall, and Yubaba would be returning soon, he knew. He'd have to make this visit a quick one.

Landing on the concrete platform just outside the boiler room, he quickly changed back and entered the boiler room.

He walked quietly passed the steaming boilers, and stopping at the doorway, he saw the susuwatari already hard at work, along with Kamaji, yelling, "C'mon you runts! We've only just begun!"

Then he caught sight of Kohaku leaning against the wall, a small smile playing across his face at the familiar scene.

"Haku! You're all right!" He scrambled across the room and gave him a four-armed hug.

Kohaku smiled broader, pulling back to avoid being strangled. "I'm fine."

While this was going on, the susuwatari had all dropped their coals and were now leaping up and down happily at his feet.

"Stay awhile – Rin will be along soon. Runts!" he yelled. "Take a break!"

But his order was mostly ignored as the susuwatari had already decided to do just that.

Kohaku wondered if Rin had a makeover on her opinions about him, but he decided not to bring that up.

Sitting down on the timber floor, he said, "How's everything?"

"Everything?" Kamaji chuckled. "Well, Yubaba got another apprentice of course."

Interested, he asked, "What's he like?"

"She," Kamaji corrected. "Her name's Konta, and she's all right so far. Not as mean as you were…yet."

His emerald eyes sparkled with mirth. "That wasn't my fault."

Kamaji continued, "She came a few months after you left, so during that time Yubaba had to do all the dirty work you used to get."

Kohaku openly showed his amusement now. "Good for her."

Just then the wooden panel slid open and Rin emerged, carrying Kamaji's and the susuwatari's food.

"Chow – " she stopped short at the sight of Kohaku. "You!" she squealed, dropping the basket and immediately the susuwatari came swarming over it. Somehow she managed to hang on to Kamaji's bowl while slapping Kohaku in a friendly way on the back. "Where have you been, you idiot? You had the two of us – and Yubaba to some extent – worried sick! Did it ever occur to you to visit more often?"

"I…well…" Kohaku began but Rin cut him off.

"Oh forget it. Straight to the point – how's Sen? Did you find her?"

Kohaku frowned. "Who?"

Rin's eyes widened, and Kamaji drew back a little, along with the susuwatari. "Huh? What do you mean, 'who'? Who do you think I'm talking about, you dope? Sen! Or Chihiro – whatever you want to call her. That's who!"

He shook his head slowly. "What are you talking about?"

Rin looked at him carefully. "This isn't some stupid joke, right?"

Kamaji said, "No, it's something else. Haku, what happened to you after you left?"

He said slowly, "I went to visit Zeniba. Then…" There seemed to be a gap in his memory – he knew he had done something between then and the time he went to the Great spirits. "I can't remember what happened then," he continued lamely, "but next I was going to the Five Pillars."

Rin whistled. "That's quite a way off."

Kohaku asked, irritated, "Was I the only one who had never heard of it?"

"Maybe," said Rin, dismissing the question. "Carry on."

"I asked them if they could help me with…something, and then they did…something, and then I travelled for a year or so, and then I came here." He really couldn't find a better word other than 'something', because that was what it was.

There was a long pause before Kamaji ventured to say something. "There're a lot of holes in that story."

Kohaku gave him a hard look.

He amended quickly, "I didn't mean it that way. But it seems like…someone's removed part of your memory."

Rin agreed sombrely. "Yes, someone removed Sen."

Kohaku pressed, "Who is Sen?"

Kamaji exchanged looks with Rin before they proceeded to tell him the whole story together, the story of Chihiro and Haku.

When they had finished, Kohaku said, "So…Chihiro…she's a human?"

Kamaji nodded. "Yes. She remembered your name, and her love saved you."

"You remember or not?" Rin asked, a little impatiently.

Kohaku thought hard. The story sounded so…right…he knew it must've happened, because from then on he knew his real name. How else could he have known?

He wanted so badly to remember. Somehow he knew it happened, but…

He shut his eyes tightly and searched his mind for anything or anyone that might remind him of this human Rin and Kamaji spoke of.

In his mind, he saw his river. It was small and had an unusually strong current, but it was home. It used to be surrounded by wilderness, but then humans had come and turned it into a reserve. He remembered that he had watched their human activities, the water lapping gently against the shore. That was when he had nothing against them.

He was kind to them, for if they accidentally dropped something into him, he'd carry it back to the shore so that they could get it back. Often the humans dumped rubbish in, and Kohaku had taken that to be an insult. So – he remembered fondly – he had thrown an aluminium can straight back in the offending human's face. Oh, he enjoyed that.

Then he recalled that not too long ago a little human had fallen in, so as he would, he carried her back to shore, as well as her pink shoe. He remembered how happy her parents had been when she hadn't drowned, and how happy the little girl was to get her shoe back.

Soon after tons of rubbish and dirt was poured into his river and… _Wait a second…_he thought.

The girl…who was that girl? He had met her later. At…here? Aburaya? And he had…helped her to get a job! It was exactly the same story Kamaji and Rin had told him!

Suddenly his mind was teeming with images pouring forth as the barriers holding those memories back broke away into nothing. He saw their retold story in his own mind –when Chihiro was a spoilt brat, when she got a job, of her voice calling him from the darkness, their freefall in the dawn sky, and their parting. He owed everything to that girl he almost forgot.

His eyes snapped open. "Chihiro!"

Rin whooped. "He's remembered!"

Kamaji simply gave him a happy, hard whack on the back.

"That's it!" he said excitedly, feeling like a little boy again. "They – those Great spirits – they made me forget about Chihiro!" Then his face clouded over and he stood up angrily, but Rin pulled him back down again.

"You stupid idiot!" she hissed. "If you go and complain to them about making you forget the girl, you probably won't be outta there alive."

"Oh, they're not that bad," said Kamaji, "they just misunderstand things like this because they've never experienced anything like it."

Kohaku looked ready to kill. "I don't care if they misunderstood or not. I'm going to tell them not to do it ever again."

"And you know they don't like to be corrected."

Kohaku just ignored him, but Kamaji's hand took hold of his shoulder and turned him around so that he'd listen. "If you go running off to fight them, what's that going to accomplish? Nothing. They'd probably remove _all _of your memories, and then there's no way you and Chihiro will ever be together again."

_And then I break my promise, _Kohaku thought silently. He hadn't told anyone about it, and he never will. That was one of those things best kept secret. So he conceded, saying, "All right then."

Just then three bath tokens dropped down through the hole in the ceiling. Kamaji frowned, then said, "Oh, damn it, they can wait." He glanced from Rin to Kohaku's amused faces, and suddenly, they all broke out into laughter.

At last, they quietened down, and Kohaku asked, "So how do I get to Chihiro?"

Rin looked as if the question was beyond her, while Kamaji scratched his head thoughtfully. Suddenly he said, "Have you heard of the Trickster?"

Kohaku frowned slightly. "Tsukioukami?"

He nodded once. "Youkai Tsukioukami. He may be a reincarnation of a demon of sorts, but he might help."

"How's that?" Rin asked incredulously.

"Well, he's stolen most of the secrets from the Great spirits, like how to open portals. And that's what you need from him, Haku. Get him to open a portal for you."

Kohaku thought for a moment, then said, "Where do I find him?"

Kamaji chuckled. "_That's_ the question."

"Oh great," said Rin, "we go look for someone and we don't know where to look. The world's a big place, boiler man."

"It shouldn't be too hard. Try around Kagemori – that's where he was last rumoured to be."

"Rumours…" muttered Rin.

Kohaku stood up. He had stayed as long as he dared. "I'm going now." He headed for the door.

"Hurry – Yubaba should be back soon, if not already," said Kamaji.

"Right," he called back.

He pulled open the door and shut it quietly. He was about to transform when suddenly the door swung open and Rin stepped out, her bare feet making no noise on the hard ground. She said quickly, "Take me with you."

It was such a random request that Kohaku was caught out, blinking in the moonlight like an owl. He finally managed to ask, "Why?"  
"Because Tsukioukami might help me remember my name."

Kohaku warned, "It's risky. What if Yubaba finds out you've gone? And Tsukioukami doesn't sound like the most agreeable person."

"Ha! As if I didn't know. But I don't care anymore. Don't you get it, Haku? I want to get out of here and find my past."

He shook his head, "It's too – "

"You stupid dragon, so what?"

His eyes flashed in annoyance at her tone.

She continued, "You got your name, and you left the bathhouse. You're free. I can free myself too, and so can anyone else. So don't try and stop me, Haku, I'm coming with you whether you like it or not."

His emerald eyes bored into hers before he snapped, "All right. Get on."

He transformed and Rin clambered on, holding tightly to the horns. Without waiting to see if she was properly settled, he took off into the twilight sky.

Rin gasped. She had never flown before, and from above, even the dirtier areas around Aburaya looked wonderful. As they accelerated to the clouds, she could see further away – the green fields and the train line diminishing to a thin line. Then she tensed at the bird-shape on the left slowly looming closer.

"Haku, it's Yubaba!"

He had seen her. They banked sharply upwards to the right, going faster than Rin thought was possible. The wind howled past her ears and the cold wind bit into her skin. Suddenly they were sailing right through the thick, vaporous clouds. The dragon slowed, staying as long as he could in the cloud for cover. Momentarily, Rin forgot about the danger as she gaped at the white fogginess all around them, wondering if this was heaven. Then she had to grip onto his horns again as the dragon suddenly shot out of the clouds and into the moonlight.

Rin took a moment to take in the clouds rolling beneath them like a beautiful piece of artwork on a scroll. Then she asked, "Did Yubaba see us?"

She felt rather than heard Kohaku say no.

They zoomed over the wispy clouds towards Kagemori. Once again Rin took in everything she saw, silently savouring every moment. Then she said quietly to herself, "I hope the old witch doesn't notice I'm gone."

This time Kohaku offered no reply, so Rin was left to her own thoughts.

They kept flying.

* * *

It is pretty long, isn't it? Y'see, I didn't want to split the chapter. 

Anyway, review and tell me what you think! I hope the story's starting to move quicker now.

_Reposted 17/01/06_ _for…reasons._


	9. Oukami

Next chapter everyone! It's shorter than the last one, but you didn't really expect me to keep up that length, did you?

Happy reading everyone!

(imaginary disclaimer…sorta)

* * *

It was the last thing Yubaba expected to see.

Sitting in her comfortable chair behind her table was Bou, giggling and laughing at the stories told by the boy who sat in his huge lap comfortably. The boy was a little on the skinny side, looking to be around ten, his bright shock of purple hair messed up like a haystack and his matching purple eyes filled with mischief.

Yubaba forced her voice to politeness. "Youkai Tsukioukami."

He grinned at her amiably, saying, "Don't interrupt the story. And it's just Oukami."

Yubaba forced a smile and said, "Bou, be a good baby and play with your toys in your room."

"But Mama," he whined, "he's telling a good story!"

"I'll tell you a better one later, sweetie," she said soothingly. She really didn't want Bou to cry just yet.

Bou sulked but obediently left the room.

Oukami resettled himself in Yubaba's chair, putting his dirty feet up on the table. "You called?" he asked, taking no effort to hide his boredom. He fingered the sacks of gold she kept on her desk.

Yubaba tried her best not to glare as she pulled up another chair.

"Yes. I want you to do me a favour."

"No favours accepted," he dismissed.

"Fine then," she snapped, unable to control herself. "I want to make a deal with you."

Oukami studied his dirty fingernails. "What kind of deal?"

She took a deep breath, then said, "I want you to bring someone to me."

"Can't your lousy apprentice even take care of _that_?"

"Well," she lowered her voice, "he may prove to be more disagreeable than most when it comes to forced cooperation."

"Lots of us do," Oukami observed dryly, not making an effort to speak quietly. "Why didn't you get one of those usual…kidnapper-type people though?"

"For several reasons, but… I know we haven't been on the best of terms in the past, so look at this agreement as something to make up for it."

Oukami laughed suddenly. "You don't know what you're talking about."

She didn't join in the laughter.

"All right," he said, suddenly all business-like, "I bring this person to you. What's the payment?"

"Gold. And a contract that says we won't bother each other again."

He fiddled with his nails, deep in thought. Yubaba reflected on how mature Oukami sounded compared to his chosen age. It could really be misleading.

"How about…twenty thousand?"

"Twenty thousand!" Her eyes widened to the size of lamps and she smashed her large fist on the table. What was she playing at? This boy destroyed her quarters at the top of the bathhouse almost a century ago, and now she was making a deal with _him_?

She forced the flames in her mouth to subside before she said, "I can't afford that. Three thousand."

"I thought you said this someone was hard to catch." His purple eyes glittered malevolently, and suddenly the mischievous aura around him vanished. Now Yubaba could clearly see the demon he was reputed to be.

They continued haggling, and all the while Oukami was ruthlessly in control of the price, slowly pushing it higher and higher. Yubaba was at loss of what to do to counter his expert negotiations.

Finally – to her dismay – they ended on a payment of twenty-three thousand in advance. She didn't know how he did it, but he did. Grumbling, she handed over the money, and then they signed the contract to not bother each other anymore once Oukami had finished doing her bidding.

"So who's the someone you want?" By now Oukami was back to his prankster self.

"His name's Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi. He's quite a powerful river spirit, considering he's got no place to tap his power from."

A flash of recognition crossed his childlike features. "Oh, you mean the boy Haku? What were you _thinking_ of when you told him to come and attack me?"

She shrugged. "He failed, so I punished him. So what?"

Exasperated, he said, "Well, of course he failed. Do you think I'd let him touch me for a second?"

Yubaba shrugged it aside and went on to give Oukami a detailed description of Haku. To finish off, she said threateningly, "And make sure you don't hurt him in any way. If I see the tiniest scratch on him, I'll turn you into coal."

He rolled his eyes. "Saying that I don't find Haku, I obviously won't come back to tell you, because that way I get to blow up your bathhouse more often." He chuckled wickedly. "And if I do come back, it'll be you turned into coal, not me."

He was probably right, but Yubaba refused to acknowledge that.

"Get going," she said shortly.

He nodded and said, "Say 'hi' to Bou for me."

Oukami walked over to the window and climbed onto the sill. Then he turned to Yubaba and said reflectively, "You're meaner than me in many ways, you old witch."

Yubaba just cackled. Then Oukami took a lively side-step towards the edge and suddenly fell out the window.

Yubaba's laughter died in her throat as she ran over and looked down, worried that all her money had gone to waste. But then she saw a silver spot streaking for the sky, and she breathed a half-hearted sigh of relief.

She muttered to herself, "Stupid demon showing off. _And_ he outwitted me again."

From behind, she could hear Bou's ponderous footsteps, and then his questioning voice, "Mama?"

She consoled her temper with the pleasing thought that soon Haku would be back under her grip; and the certainty that one day she'll successfully swindle Oukami, somehow.

"Yes, sweetie," she said, smiling, "I'll tell you a story now."

It would be only later that she'd find a box holding six heavy sacks of gold gone.

* * *

Please review everyone! You know how much reviews mean to everybody. That includes me.

Oh, tell me what you thought about Oukami. He hasn't got potential to be a scene-stealer, has he?

_Reposted 22/11/05_ _to remove review responses_


	10. The Fight to Death

I'm sorry if this chapter took a while coming, and if it's bad, it's because I found…

A NEW FANDOM WITH NARUTO! Heh heh… I'm ploughing my way through the manga as fast as possible, and I'm enjoying every bit of it:D But don't worry, I won't drop this story.

Anyway…thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter! It was the most reviews I got for one chapter (so maybe all of you _do _like Oukami) and I was so very happy! Thank you everyone!

_Happy reading! _

* * *

Rin shivered, and she thought dryly, _So_ _this is what's beyond the train line. Great._

The nights were steadily getting colder as they moved further north. And she envied Haku for being able to turn into a dragon, for at night, he would curl up into a ball with the tip of his tail brushing his nose. Rin didn't dare try curl up too close to him, as he still wasn't pleased with the fact that she came along. _Not that he hates me or anything. I think…_

Haku had gotten her new clothes since she left the bathhouse. Now dressed in simple brown clothes similar to the kind worn at Aburaya, it attracted far less attention than the pink of the workers' uniforms. Since Aburaya was such a popular place to bathe, most spirits would recognise her as being a worker there. And that wouldn't help them out of sticky situations.

She looked across to Haku, sitting with his back to a tree and staring off into the distance. He did that so often – maybe it was because he found her annoying. But she wasn't going to push her luck to find out what was really on his mind.

"So, how far is it to Kagemori?" she asked after a while.

"Not far," Haku replied.

"Will we get there tomorrow?"

"Maybe."

He looked away, and Rin knew that it would be pointless to try and talk to him again. Grumbling a little under her breath, she made ready to go to sleep, glad that tomorrow their journey would be over.

The town of Kagemori was a dingy sort of place. The paved, main road had gutters on each side where people went to relieve themselves every so often. And the dirt roads off the main road didn't help much to brighten the town. Rin was glad it wasn't raining.

The two wended their way through a stinky marketplace, where lots of the sellers were trying their best to sell all their goods before closing time. Rin kept looking from side to side, not wishing to miss anything going on. No matter how smelly this place was, it was a fascinating experience for her – nothing like the neat restaurants along the road that led up to the bathhouse.

"There's an inn," Kohaku pointed out. He started walking towards it, not waiting to see if she followed or not. A few moments later, Rin tore her eyes away from the busy scene and ran after Kohaku.

Pushing open the door, her eyes took a moment to adjust to the dim light. The tables and benches were neatly arranged, and the floor was clean. It was a contrast to the dirty exterior of the town.

She reached Kohaku, who was talking with the innkeeper. He was a strange looking spirit with a narrow face and orange skin.

"Tsukioukami?" he asked sourly. "He ain't never come here. The place's too good for him. Try the Sakanameya."

"The Sakanameya?" asked Rin incredulously. "Where's _that_?"

"It's so damned famous, you should know where it is!" the innkeeper said arrogantly.

Kohaku said, "So where is it?"

He gave them a distasteful look before saying, "Get lost."

"Obnoxious," Rin muttered before turning to follow Kohaku.

Some time later they found the inn. The inside smelt like a thousand bad things mixed together – Rin didn't want to know what all the smells were – the floor was hard-packed earth with old bits of straw on top, and as far as Rin could tell, the tables had never been cleaned. She glanced at Kohaku – he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he didn't seem to mind _anything_…except for her, perhaps.

She stood silently by him as he asked the barmaid about Tsukioukami. She was a lot more agreeable than the other innkeeper.

She giggled. "Oh, you mean Oukami-san? Sure I know where he is! He's right there." She pointed at one of the far tables, where four people were seated round the table playing cards.

"See the smallest one there? With the purple hair? That's him. Great card player. Always wins, and when he loses, it's because he wants to. The other three are newcomers – I've never seen them before."

Kohaku nodded and said, "My thanks."

He turned around but the barmaid grabbed hold of him by the elbow. "It wouldn't do any good to interrupt him now. Then you'd get one hell of an angry demon right at you!"

Kohaku considered for a moment, then sat down at one of the benches and Rin followed suit. They watched Oukami playing for a while. To Kohaku, he seemed to be playing with ease, with an annoying, ever-persistent grin on his face.

"So," said the barmaid after a while, "what's your name?"

He hesitated before replying, "Haku."

She smiled sweetly, batting her eyelashes a little, "My name's Mai. You've come a long way?"

Kohaku wondered why a lot of the women he met always tried to seduce him in one way or another. He thought back to the time when he had met the rose spirit while looking for Chihiro.

Rin answered flatly, "Yes." She hated the spirit-girl's nosing around.

Undeterred by Rin's tone, she asked, "Are you going to ask Oukami-san to help you for something?"

Kohaku nodded.

"Well, here's my advice to you. If you're thinking about using gold to sweeten the deal, don't."

"Why?" asked Rin defiantly.

"Because he ain't interested in money! Rumour has it that he's got more than enough."

"Thanks again," Kohaku said, tossing her a small piece of gold as payment for information.

Mai squealed with happiness as she caught it. Then another barmaid came out from the side door and said tiredly, "What's the fuss, Mai?"

"He gave me this!" she held up the gold under her friend's nose.

"Great," Rin said to Kohaku. "Now they love you." Then she firmly turned her back to the two squealing barmaids.

"You cheat!"

One of the spirits at Oukami's table stood up angrily. "You cheated!" he spat. "I know you did!"

With a smack of his hand, he overturned the table. Oukami nimbly leapt out of the way, but the other two ended up sprawled on the ground.

By now the whole common room had turned to look at the commotion. Behind Rin, she heard the two barmaids gasp in horror.

He shouted down at Oukami, "I'm going to have to call you out, boy!"

Rin asked Kohaku quietly, "What does he mean?"

"Oukami's going to have to duel with him."

"Using what?"

"Swords only," he yelled at Oukami, drawing his own.

Oukami kept grinning. "All right then." Somebody handed him a katana.

Behind them, the innkeeper yelled, "Hey! No fighting!" He waved his club threateningly but seemed unwilling to use it.

The crowd completely ignored him as they watched Oukami do a couple of figure eights to get the feel of the katana. Rin thought it looked rather odd for a boy to be wielding such a long sword, and she wondered if he really knew what he was doing.

Finally Oukami looked up and said, "I'm ready. Do you swear to first blood?"

The other spirit nodded, and then he charged straight in, his sword jabbing towards Oukami's throat.

One of the spectators at the side yelled, "Go Washi!"

But instead of backing away, Oukami just ducked under and lashed out at his exposed side. But the blow simply glanced off his heavy clothes, so Oukami rolled away and came up behind him. Several spirits began to cheer.

Kohaku looked at Rin and said, "This isn't a duel. It's a fight to death."

Seeing that the boy was more capable than she thought he would be, Rin replied airily, "Well, we don't have much to worry about."

"But – " Kohaku protested.

"We'll just wait out the fight."

Washi scowled at Oukami, his hand drifting to where he had touched him. "All right. I'm not playing anymore."

Oukami didn't bother answering as Washi executed a combination of high and low strikes, using more strength than should have been necessary. He studied the pattern until he knew where Washi was going to strike, and then he darted forward and extended his katana. Suddenly he felt cold wind rushing overhead and he knew Washi was attempting to lop his head off. Oukami dropped into a crouch just in time, feeling the caress of the sword brush the tips of his messy hair before spinning away again, ready.

"You're pathetic," he remarked lightly. "Why don't we just forget this?"

His only reply was a jab towards his chest which he parried easily, and the fight continued.

Several minutes later, Washi was already dripping sweat while Oukami was still ruthlessly toying with him.

"Give up?" asked Oukami tauntingly.

Washi knew he was trying to provoke him, but all the same, his rage grew at how indifferent the boy seemed about the duel. He renewed his attack but Oukami skipped out of the way.

"All right, I get the point. I'll stop playing with you." His purple eyes glinted devilishly, and suddenly the katana was a silver blur in his hand, thrusting and slashing towards Washi. He fell back, stunned by the ferocity of the attack. He clumsily parried but his sword met no resistance. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain on his forearm, and he looked down. Blood was oozing from a slight nick just below his elbow. He looked back up at Oukami, who was leaning on his katana casually, watching him.

"What the hell _is _he!" Rin whispered in the stunned silence that followed.

Oukami saw the death-glare Washi fixed him, and he calmly reminded, "First blood. I win the money."

All rational thoughts fled out of his mind at the humiliation of being defeated by a boy less than half his age. "I don't care!" he screamed, his bottled-up anger free at last. "_You cheated!_" With that, he lifted his katana high overhead and struck down hard.

Steel crashed into steel as Oukami blocked overhead, the impact sending a jolt up his arm as his blade shuddered. Around them the crowd murmured at the breach of protocol.

"You're a fool," Oukami said quietly, mere inches away from Washi's furious red face. "You swore first blood, and then you break your oath." He stepped back and said, "Now I have to kill you."

"I'll kill _you _first!"

His katana swept low and Oukami leaped over it. Then Washi swung heavily right and left with brute strength while the crowd shouted as they frantically tried to get out of the path of the two combatants.

Rin and Kohaku leapt up onto the table, and from there they had a clear view of the fight. Oukami had a grim expression on his face as he blocked the heavy blows one by one. They could see he wasn't tiring, but he wasn't fighting back either.

Rin shouted over the commotion, "Haku, what's he doing?"

"Biding his time."

"Why?"

Kohaku paused for a moment before he answered, "I don't know."

Oukami watched, waiting for the moment for Washi to overbalance, and then the fight would be his. Suddenly deciding to finish it, he let the point of his katana drop, as if he were tired. Washi roared as he saw his opening. He lunged forward hungrily, and that was what Oukami was waiting for.

Instead of parrying or retreating, he dropped to his knee and extended his sword, straight at his body. As he expected, Washi impaled himself, not being able to move in time.

Oukami locked his eyes upon his opponent's, but there was no pity in them. Then he gave the sword a hard wrench, and Washi fell to the ground, dead.

Everyone was frozen in place as Oukami wordlessly handed the katana back to its owner. Then he said, "Isn't someone going to clean up that mess?"

And with that, he walked away.

* * *

I realise there's not much focus on Haku and Rin, but there'll be more in the next chapter.

By the way, I don't know much about Japanese swordfighting stuff, so the fight might be a bit like one of those European ones… Feel free to tell me what you think of that duel!

_**REVIEW!**_

_Reposted 17/01/06 for…reasons._


	11. Playing Games

I got 14 reviews! Yay! Thanks so much everyone!

* * *

Oukami sat at a table by himself, ignoring the fearful looks that people gave him. Then when Kohaku and Rin began to make their way over to him, the crowd began to titter and point in their direction. Rin suddenly had the strong urge to snap at them to mind their own business.

"Want to play?" asked Oukami as they approached the table. He riffled the cards, and without waiting for their reply, he began to deal them out.

Kohaku stole a glance at Rin, who shrugged and sat down across from the Trickster, but Kohaku said, "We want to ask you something."

"After the game," he dismissed. There was no trace of the impish boy this time; just a person intent on playing games with the air of an expert.

Kohaku glared before sitting down as well.

"What game are we playing?" blurted Rin after a moment.

"A variant of Cheat."

"What?"

"You both haven't heard of it?" Seeing them shake their heads, he said, "All right, I'll explain."

"This game is all about cheating. There are rules, though. The game starts with all of us putting as much money as we want in the middle of the table. Now, let's say I put this card down." He grabbed a random card and placed it face down on the table. "Then I say that's one five. But it doesn't have to be one five, it can be anything, like two fives, or three sixes, or four twos. Then I roll this dice here." He fished a grimy one out of his pocket and showed it to them. It was a strange dice, with one, two, three and negative one, two and three.

He rolled it and it came up with a two. "Since I get two, then I get to take two of these." He picked up two coins from the middle of the table. "And if I get negative two, then I have to put two coins in the middle of the table. Get it?"

"Yeah," said Rin. Kohaku just nodded.

"Not bad," Oukami said, "I thought I'd have to explain everything twice."

"Anyway, this card here," he poked the facedown card that he said was one five, "any of you can say 'cheat' if you think this card isn't a one five. If it _is _a one five, you have to give me five coins, as well as take the stack of cards on the table. And if the card isn't a one five but turns out to be an ace – for example – then I give you a coin and take the stack of cards.

"You can only put down cards that are one up or one down from the card just put down. So, with five, the next person can put down a four or a six. So if you don't have a four or a six, you cheat. Simple?

"You always give or take money based on what the card really is. A Jack is eleven coins, Queen is twelve, King is thirteen, Ace is one, two is two and so on. Oh, if it's three Aces, then you pay three coins.

"If you don't have enough money to give when you need to, then you lose and you take your money with you. The winner is the one who has no more cards. Then we split the money on the table evenly. So it's good if you stay to the end, even if you've already lost. That's about it for rules." He grinned then and picked up his cards. Rin took the hint to start playing, so they all put as much money as they wished to on the table.

"You start." Oukami pointed at Kohaku.

After a moment's hesitation, he placed two cards on the table. "Two nines." Then he rolled the dice and ended up with a negative two. He growled softly to himself as he fished out two coins from his pocket and placed them in the middle.

Rin followed next, saying, "One eight." She got lucky when she rolled the dice – three coins to her pocket. _Maybe this isn't going to be so bad._

Several minutes later, Rin was grumbling loudly as she picked up the pile of cards on the table for the fourth time in a row. She was really bad at cheating, and now she probably had half the deck in her hands. Oukami had been winning all the way, so now he only had six cards left and a stack of money. _I've got to catch him out, _she thought, studying him for any clues.

"Three queens," he said, placing the cards on the table. Rin watched him roll the dice, and on whim, she said, "Cheat."

Oukami grinned and flipped the cards over. Sure enough, there were three queens. _Damn it. _She gathered up the pile of cards once again and tossed thirty-six coins to the boy. _Come on, I've got to get him…I can do it…_

She studied him, staring so hard that her eyes might have popped out. She wanted to win this game, she wanted to prove that this boy wasn't as great as he seemed to be. She wondered that maybe if she stared hard enough, she'd gain some insight by doing that.

And amazingly, she did.

Within her eyes appeared a dull, grey shadow around the three of them, that she could sort of see, but sort of sense as well. She looked around the room – everyone had the grey shadow surround them, some with lighter tones and some with darker tones. It was strange.

"One seven," Kohaku said.

Rin looked at him and suddenly the grey around him changed to a darker tone. A suspicion started to grow in her mind, and without hesitation, she pointed at him, "Cheat."

She flipped over the card and whooped. "Yes!" She pushed the pile of cards to him and got her share of money.

Kohaku kept his face expressionless, but inside he was wondering how Rin could have known. She didn't have any sevens; he had all four. Oukami was thinking along the same lines as he was. He had started off with four sevens and had used them all in one go. Then Kohaku had taken the pile, and Oukami knew he hadn't used it since. That girl was interesting. And he had to admit, pretty attractive too.

Using her strange new ability, Rin slowly began to catch up with Oukami, much to the surprise of the others. Inwardly she grinned. As well as using the 'grey-thing' (she began to think of it that way), she also used a trick to get rid of her cards quickly. She had come up with that when she thought back to what Oukami had said: "This game is all about cheating." So she found that if she could put three cards down, she could slip a fourth one beneath the others.

Oukami watched as the girl across from him began to catch up. _Maybe she has a talent for this game, or maybe she's just smarter than I thought. Very interesting girl. _He gave her an appraising look, which Rin pointedly ignored.

After a while, Oukami felt himself growing increasingly bored. Abruptly he tossed his cards down on the table for everyone to see and asked, "So what did you want to ask me?"

Kohaku said quietly, "Oukami-san, can you open a portal to the human world?"

"Why?"

Kohaku measured his words before answering. "Because there is someone I wish to see."

"And – " Rin began but Oukami cut her off.

"Come up to my room. Too many ears here." He gestured at the coins in the middle of the table. "Take what you want."

He led them up the stairs and down the length of a long corridor to the room at the end. He opened the door for them and waited for them to go through. Then he shut the door behind him with a snap and nonchalantly waved his hand. Suddenly the air in the room was charged and alive with crackling power. With another wave, Kohaku and Rin suddenly found themselves pinned to the floor, red flickering energy around their wrists and ankles.

And Oukami grinned. _Too easy._

* * *

Reference to the card game: I based it off Cheat, that's true. The rest I made up. It's probably similar to another game, but since I only know Cheat, Big 2, Go Fish, Snap and Speed/Spit (whatever everyone calls it…) well you can obviously see I have very little expertise in the realm of cards…

I hope this chapter wasn't too boring, but at least you have something to think about with Rin's newfound ability. And you're probably wondering why I bothered putting in the card game. Well, Oukami tells you himself later. If you like, you can look at this chapter as a lead-up to the next!

_**REVIEW!**_

_Reposted 22/11/05_ _to remove review responses_


	12. Rin's Bargain

Sorry I took so long everyone! Anyway, back again with the next chapter! Everyone, thanks for reviewing!

* * *

"What the hell!" yelled Rin. Beside her Kohaku was squirming, trying to free himself.

"Don't do that too much," Oukami advised cheerfully, "it starts to rub in and burn your skin after a while."

"What are you doing?" Kohaku asked, outraged.

Oukami flung himself back on the hard bed in the room and stared up at the ceiling, hands cupped behind his head. "Sorry. It was Yubaba's idea. She wanted you, Haku." He directed his next words to Rin, "After I'm done with him, you're free to go."

"You're not going anywhere with Haku! I'll stop you first!" She tried to bite off her bonds, but they suddenly flared up with heat as they neared her mouth. Letting out a cry of frustration, she forced her wrists apart as if sheer force would break them.

"So if you wanted to capture us, why did you sit down and play cards for a while?" Kohaku growled, his temperament matching Rin's for once.

He shrugged. "To learn more about you."

"Is that it?" he asked incredulously.

"It was useful to know, don't you think?"

Kohaku frowned, the wheels in his brain clicking furiously. Suddenly it all came together.

"Rin, wait."

She stopped trying to free herself and turned in amazement to Kohaku. They were in the middle of a dilemma and he was _still _acting calm?

"Yubaba asked you to get me? What made you do that? You can easily overpower her."

"True, but since I managed to get twenty-three thousand gold off her in advance, I did the job."

"But you don't like gold," Kohaku objected.

Oukami didn't seem to hear him as he continued dreamily, "And when I get back, I'll bankrupt her and then blow her quarters up."

Rin's eyebrows rose at his odd pronouncement. If their position wasn't so serious she would have laughed.

"But what's the point of keeping us?" Kohaku was trying his best to talk their way out of this. "You've got your payment, so you don't have to keep your side of the deal. And you don't know if you're able to get more money from her."

As soon as he finished speaking, he realised he had said the wrong thing. Oukami sat up and said coldly, "I'm well aware of what I'm capable of, boy." His gaze silenced anything more Kohaku had to say. "I'm going to take a nap, so I suggest you rest as well." He leaned back on the bed and added, "I'll take you to that big-nosed-midget hag in the morning."

"Wait a minute!" Rin shouted. "I'm not finished yet. What if our deal is better than Yubaba's?"

"Like what?" Oukami murmured sleepily. "I open a portal to the human world, and in return…" he shut his eyes, thinking. Suddenly he jerked awake and sat up, "And it return, I get…you?"

Whatever it was that Rin was expecting it certainly wasn't that. All she could do was stare at him with her mouth hanging open, dumbfounded.

Kohaku was the first to get over the shock. "You can't do that! She isn't an object to be bartered with!"

"Object or not, you have to admit she's very pretty." He grinned unabashedly at her. "Besides, she's the best I've seen at Cheat for a long time. Now _that's_ saying something."

Rin mouth was working like a goldfish, something that people rarely saw. Finally she stuttered out, "You…you moron!"

"Maybe," he replied. "But think about this – there's no one, no one at all in the spirit world except for me and those Great spirits who can open portals between worlds. And knowing those stick-to-the-rule losers, you won't be getting help from them anytime soon. Besides," he added offhandedly, "if you don't play along with me, then I send the dragon back to Yubaba. End of story, and I'll be back to blowing up places and tormenting Big-nose in every way."

He grinned and reached out with his hand, as if into an invisible hole in the air. After a moment of groping around, he pulled out a fresh, steaming dumpling. He held it out to Kohaku and Rin and asked, "Want some?"

Both of them stared at the dumpling like it was an alien from outer space. Oukami chuckled and said, "No? Oh well then." He sank his teeth into it and began to systematically tear chunks off, chewing loudly and altogether enjoying himself, acting somewhat like an animal.

Kohaku shook his head slightly. This boy's moods were as changeable as the weather.

"So," he said between mouthfuls, "what do you say?"

Rin and Kohaku exchanged glances.

"Hey, how about I give you some privacy?" It wasn't really a question, as he walked over and let himself out the door without another word.

Once they were sure he was out of earshot, Rin decided, "All right, we've got to get out of here. Let's try get rid of these things around our wrists first." She began pulling and tugging again, while Kohaku began a spell to melt it off. But when he released it, it didn't feel right. It felt like there was a blockage of some sort. He tried again, getting the same feeling as before. Then he realised, "These bonds stop you from doing spells."

"Perfect," she replied sarcastically.

After hours of trying to free themselves, exhaustion forced them to give up. Kohaku stared at the red energies circling his wrists and ankles. Like Oukami had said, they had burned into their skin.

He couldn't help himself, he just had to doze off, at least for a little while. The last thing he noticed was Rin already sound asleep.

- - -

"Come on, there's got to be a way out of this! Come on…"

Kohaku cracked open one eye sleepily. Light was beginning to peep through the window and the birds twittered calmly. Remembering where he was, his eyes landed on Rin, who was once again trying to get free. Then he noticed blood flowing in little rivulets down her wrists.

"Rin!" He stared at her, realising that she must have been doing that for hours while he was asleep. "Stop it, you're hurting yourself."

She ignored him.

"Look, soon you'll be free."

"And then what?" she retorted. "You get sent back to Yubaba, and never see Sen again? You're such an idiot." She resumed working on the bonds.

Kohaku was quiet. Of course he wanted to see Chihiro again, but if Rin was going to continue hurting herself…

"All right." Rin stopped and looked at Kohaku. There were dark circles under her eyes which were made even more pronounced because of the golden light entering the window behind her.

"We'll agree to Oukami's plan," she announced.

"No! You can't!" objected Kohaku. "You can't give yourself to him."

"At least Yubaba won't get you."

He shook his head vehemently. "If you go with Oukami, who knows what he'll do to you? He's a scoundrel, a rogue. He's got no morals. If I go to Yubaba, maybe I can get out later."

"Do you want to see Sen or not?" Rin snapped. "Sometimes I hate you because you're so damn selfless."

The silence that followed was so thick it was almost tangible.

"Hey," Rin said cautiously after a while, "do you think Oukami really likes me?"

"What?" Kohaku wondered what was on her mind, with that question being so strange and all.

"I think he does," she answered for herself, determination clearly showing on her face. "He seems to want me no matter what, right?"

Kohaku nodded slowly.

"So in that case, if I tell him that he has to help us until we don't need him anymore, and only then he can get me…do you think he'll buy that?"

But Kohaku had no time to reply as unexpectedly the door opened and Oukami bounced in and slammed it behind him. He had an extremely happy grin on his face as he continued his bounce onto the bed. Rolling over onto his stomach, he leaned over the edge and stared at the two with his glinting purple eyes.

"I had a fun night, what about you? I played a lot of tricks; like one little girl who had to go to the bathroom, so I had my shadow follow her everywhere. Good trick, huh?" His face lit up boyishly as he said this.

"You mean harassment," Rin said flatly.

"No and yes. Harassment and tricks are the same things. Anyway, you young spirits decided yet?"

"Yes," Rin said quickly before Kohaku could get a word in. "We agree with your deal, _but,_" she paused for emphasis,"you have to help us until we don't need you anymore –"

"Hey, thanks for throwing me off like some trash." His voice sounded half amused, half bitter.

"_And_," Rin said loudly, miffed at being interrupted, "you also have to give me back my real name." It was a request that she suddenly remembered on the spot.

Oukami gave her an inquisitive look. "Your real name?"

"Yes," she said unflinchingly.

Oukami stared off into space for a while before he agreed, "All right."

Rin was taken aback. She had expected him to bargain to try and adjust things to his liking. "Right," she nodded after a second. Though he was now on their side, she knew it wasn't wise to trust him yet.

"So I guess I have to untie you." Suddenly the red bonds disappeared, as well as the charged atmosphere in the room that had been with them all night.

"Here." Oukami was reaching into the same invisible hole as yesterday, this time drawing out a roll of bandages. He tossed it to Rin who accepted it without question.

The Trickster leapt off the bed to stare out the window while he waited for the two. After some thinking, he asked, "So where are we headed?"

* * *

So, how was that? I hope it's all right, and I hope what Oukami did makes sense and everything. And the invisible 'hole' will be explained later, but in the meantime, you can take a wild guess at what it is.

Give me feedback a.k.a. **REVIEW**! Criticism allowed! Heh heh heh.

Next chapter: Chihiro!

_Reposted 22/11/05_ _to remove review responses_


	13. The Human World

I took a while to update, didn't I? Well, that's because I'm back at school now :( and this year is a much more important year than last year, which means that I have a lot more homework, which means less fanfiction…

Anyway, I'll only be able to update on weekends from now on. If you see no update then, that means next weekend.

Also, I don't know when the next chapter is going to come, because I haven't written it, and I've got very little time to go on the computer. Gee, school's annoying. So don't blame me if the next update is in a month or something. Don't get impatient either.

* * *

"Chihiro! Wake up, you're going to be late for school!" Her mother rapped on her door impatiently.

Chihiro mumbled something and snuggled deeper into her quilts. She did _not _want to get up, for today they had a test. It wasn't one of those really important ones, but it was a test all the same.

"Honey, you only have ten minutes left until the bus leaves! Don't expect me to drive you again!"

She heard her mother's footsteps retreat down the stairs.

Chihiro grumbled a bit more before dragging herself out of bed. She stumbled out into the corridor and headed to the bathroom. About two minutes later she stumbled back out, almost bumping into her father who was leaving for work. "Have a good day at school," was all he said, leaving Chihiro to think sourly, _Sure. _

Back in her room, she ran a comb through her hair, changed into her uniform and packed her school bag, all accomplished in five minutes. _That's got to be a world record. _

She then raced downstairs, grabbed her breakfast, said goodbye to her mother and shot out the door. Then she slowed down, content on leisurely walking to the bus stop so that she would have time to eat breakfast. But that satisfaction soon evaporated as she saw the bus about to leave. _Crap! _She sprinted full speed down the pathway, passing the houses in a whirlwind, almost making it…but a cat got in the way. It yowled at her indignantly before leaping over a high wall. Chihiro pouted a little, first staring at the top of the wall, then to the bus roaring around the corner towards school, then back at the wall. _What now? _she grumbled.

Finally she decided she might as well walk, because if she went home to ask her mum to drive her, she wouldn't be very pleased and would probably tell her how irresponsible she was all the way to school. Plus, she'd arrive on time for the test. However, if she came really late she'd miss it, and considering how absent-minded their teacher was, she most likely wouldn't have to do the test at all. Pleased with her reasoning, she proceeded to stroll to school.

As she walked past one of the quieter streets in town, she felt the hairs on her back prickle in warning. She stopped, listening for anything wrong while her eyes scanned the area. Seeing nothing unusual, she relaxed her guard and carried on. Then she stifled a scream. She thought she saw…was it a huge grey dog? Or maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her, but she was so sure she saw something just then. But it was gone, along with the prickling sensation from before. Taking a few steadying breaths, she immediately sprinted the rest of the way to school.

-

_Ugh, stupid test, stupid test… _She glanced sideways at the next table as inconspicuously as possible, trying to cheat – she had no choice. Then the teacher coughed and Chihiro almost jumped out of her skin. She averted her eyes back to her own table, staring at her paper until her eyes burned from the lack of blinking. She _really _didn't want to get caught; already she could imagine the endless tirade her parents would give her.

Then over in the corner, one of the students began to giggle. Slowly a chain reaction formed, and soon the whole class was giggling. Chihiro had stuffed her fist in her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud as she exchanged looks with her friend Naruko across the room.

Their teacher glanced up at the class, irritated. The volume increased, and at last he slammed the newspaper down on the desk and thundered, "Get back to work!"

Naruko, being the class spokeswoman and clown, objected, "But sensei, there's a shadow behind you dancing on the wall…" She trailed off, erupting into another fit of giggles along with the other students.

The shadow seemed to be doing a kind of tap dance to some phantom music. The class roared with laughter, and it stuck its tongue out and waggled it. Suddenly the shadow came off the wall, like a dark, transparent bed sheet. It hovered over the teacher menacingly and dove, wrapping itself around him.

The laughter turned into screams of fear, and Chihiro rushed to get away from the shadow like everyone else. She caught up to Naruko, and hand in hand they ran down the corridor and out the door to the playground's furthest side. Only when they reached the boundary of the school did they stop.

Chihiro leant against the fence next to Naruko, panting hard and wondering what on earth that scary shadow-thing was. Suddenly her hyperactive friend giggled.

Chihiro stared at her, cocking her head to one side in question. But her laugh was infectious and soon they were both rolling on the ground, laughing hysterically at something neither of them knew. But it was fun.

When they finally got over it, Chihiro asked, "Hey, since our sensei's probably getting tortured by that _thing_ –" She had to stop when they both started laughing again. Quite a while later she continued, tears streaming down her cheeks from laughing so much, "Do you want to come to my place? My parents are out."

"Ha, why should I?" Naruko asked, pushing Chihiro onto her back. "My house is empty too – oh wait, my mum's probably going to be home with my little brother…"

"See?" Chihiro yelled in her face. "C'mon, you're coming over!" She climbed over the fence and helped Naruko over. Then they both dashed down the street, almost getting run over by a car. But they laughed it off. After all, they were still young and naïve.

Their run to Chihiro's house slowly turned into a race as to who could get there first. Right now, Chihiro was far ahead, her long legs being put to good use. As she tore round a corner, her vision filled with a navy blue and suddenly she was knocked onto her back, staring up at the sky while the clouds drifted lazily by. "Ow…" She sat up and rubbed her head.

"Sorry!" exclaimed the person Chihiro had bumped into. Behind her she could hear Naruko's footsteps slowing down and finally stopping.

"It's all right," Chihiro said, still rubbing her painful head.

"Hey!" Naruko yelled, being the loudmouth as always. "Who are you guys? I haven't seen you around."

Finally Chihiro opened her eyes and pulled herself to her feet and stared at the newcomers. One of them was an older girl with straight brown hair, wearing a plain blue dress that reached to just above her knees with a white belt around her waist. The other was a boy with the most intense green eyes she had ever seen.

"Yeah, we're new around here," she replied. "Our parents tend to move a lot, so we don't know how long we'll be in this town. Do you live here?"

Naruko said loudly, "Yes! But you haven't answered my question: who are you?"

"My name's Rin, and he's Haku. And…" Rin turned to Haku, glaring daggers at him, "Oukami disappeared a while ago…"

He shrugged, still staring at Chihiro. She was starting to get unnerved by his steady gaze.

"I'm Naruko, and this is Chihiro."

Rin and Haku nodded politely.

"Are you siblings?" Naruko chirped.

"Uh…yeah." Rin glanced at Haku quickly, as if for conformation.

But Naruko didn't notice as she rambled on, "Do you want to come with us? We can play some games in the park or something."

Rin and Haku glanced at each other, and finally Haku said, "Oukami will find us later."

She agreed, "Okay."

Naruko talked non-stop about everything, giving Rin and Haku a pretty good picture of who they were. Rin also talked quite a bit, and by the time they reached the park, they were comfortable with each other.

"Hey," Chihiro said over Naruko's happy yells as she swung to and fro on the swing, "I'm having a sleepover next Saturday. Do you guys want to come?"

"Of course!" shouted Naruko.

"Sure," Haku said, sitting on a nearby bench.

"Can our brother Oukami come too?" Rin asked.

"Yep!" Chihiro said. "Cool, already four people are coming!"

-

Rin opened the door to their rented home. It was a dusty, rundown and _very_ small, but it was liveable.

"Where did Oukami get to?" Rin asked, slamming the door after Kohaku. She could feel a headache coming on after Naruko's high volume of constant talking, and their decision to act younger than their age to fit in with Chihiro's friends left Rin in a _very_ bad mood.

"Here." They both looked up and saw Oukami hovering near the ceiling, an instant noodle packet in each hand. Without warning, he threw both at them. Kohaku managed to duck while Rin was hit head-on. "Ow, what did you do that for?" Logically it shouldn't hurt much, but…Oukami must have done something to them.

"You need to eat, don't you?" He dropped to the floor lightly and went to the kitchen, Rin and Kohaku close behind.

"Where were you today?" Rin snapped.

"Playing tricks at the school."

Rin groaned, and she could've sworn the usually stoic Kohaku did too. "I told you…"

"Hey, it was just the shadow trick! All I did was make it dance on the wall during the test they had, and then…well, I had some fun with the sensei…"

"What _kind _of fun?"

"Uh…I wrapped my shadow around him?"

Rin sighed, exasperated. Her voice rose, "Stop harassing people!"

"The proper word is 'trick'."

"Just…" Rin gave up, "stop doing your 'tricks'!"

"Sure," he replied.

"Really?" asked Kohaku hopefully. He sounded sincere.

"Ah…" Oukami pretended to think it over. Then he grinned and said flatly, "No. Why was I called the Trickster anyway? You've got to live up to –" But he was interrupted by a very put-out Rin giving him a sharp cuff on the back of his head.

"That's a payback," Rin declared as Oukami flew up out of harm's way.

Oukami pouted childishly, then grinned, "I like you anyway."

Rin clenched her fists in annoyance while Oukami just smiled benignly. Then he turned to Haku and said, "I saw your human-girlfriend today."

"Her name's Chihiro, idiot," Rin hissed.

"Huh, whatever."

"It's Chihiro!" Rin yelled as she threw the noodle packet at him. Then she chased him all around the house, flinging odd objects in his direction while Kohaku laughed softly behind them at their antics.

-

Rin lay awake, silently contemplating the cracked ceiling above her. She was too on edge to sleep – they were in the human world, they had seen Chihiro, and they were going to her sleepover on Saturday. The question was, when were they going to tell her? And would she believe them or not?

Just then a quiet whisper rang through the silence. "…no, I didn't mean to…"

Rin jumped and twisted around to see Oukami tightly curled up on the floor in the faint moonlight, clutching his head as if it would break.

"You didn't mean to." The voice was contemptuous, unforgiving.

"I'd bring you back if I could."

"After everything I've taught you, you're capable of it, boy."

"I'm not _that _good," he whined.

There was a pause, and Rin strained to hear his next words.

"Liar."

Suddenly Oukami began to shake and thrash around at an unseen opponent, twisting on the floor while still clutching his head. Rin sat up, beginning to get worried.

Then he stopped, just as abruptly as he had started. His eyes were open now, unseeingly staring at the ceiling. He panted heavily as if he had just run several kilometres. Then Rin saw with shock that his normally purple eyes were dark red and angry. From his mouth the dark voice said, "I'll be waiting."

Oukami's eyes receded to their normal purple, and he lay utterly still for several minutes, cold sweat covering his skin. Rin didn't dare to move, she didn't want him to know that she was watching him.

At last Oukami sat up. He stared out the window at the half-moon hanging in the night sky and curled up into a ball, his chin up to his knees. Slowly, quietly, Rin lay back down and shut her eyes, listening to Oukami repeat over and over again, "Why me?"

* * *

So, watcha think? I know it isn't the best chapter since I didn't have time to do a proper edit, but…hey, it's pretty long!

Oh yeah, lots of people have been putting me on their author alert list. 25 people, actually. So, if you are reading this story, please review because I don't know how many people are _actually _reading this. Besides, it'll keep me from getting a mental breakdown because of school. So, **review**!

_Reposted 22/11/05_ _to remove review responses_


	14. Sleepover

Yo everyone! I'm back! W00t! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a _very _long while. But I have been keeping up with all your stories! (I think…eep…)

By the way I'm past the 100-review mark!

* * *

By Saturday, Rin had totally forgotten about Oukami's strange behaviour that night. She had gone shopping earlier and had decided that human clothes weren't too bad at all. Now she was standing in front of a dusty mirror trying on different combinations. As far as she knew, she was the only one at home – Kohaku had gone to get them lunch before they went to Chihiro's house, and Oukami, well, he could be anywhere.

Rin shook her head at her reflection. A pink blouse and an electric green skirt did not match. She pulled off the blouse and fumbled through her bags for another top, when…

"Yo."

Rin squealed and bent over, trying to shield herself. She glared up at Oukami leaning against the door casually and blushed as his eyes never left her. He must have sneaked up from behind, and her colour deepened as she realised he could have been standing there for who knows how long. Becoming angry at herself and him, she snapped, "Get out!"

He grinned broadly and said, "Did I ever say you were pretty? Much better than most. Well, at least from what I've seen."

Her eyes widened as she realised what would be running through his head now, and she stuttered out, "You _pervert_!"

"Just a hobby," he shrugged.

"Just – just get _out_!" Rin yelled. The colour in her face was unlike one he had ever seen before.

He backed off, saying, "Fine, fine." He turned to leave, deciding that he had made the right decision. _Who knows_, he thought, _she might have burst a blood vessel in her brain if I hadn't left_.

- - -

Chihiro's sleepover party was actually fun, Kohaku realised. He thought he would have been too old for these things, but from the time he, Oukami and Rin had arrived in the afternoon (with Rin looking rather flashy in a yellow blouse, dark blue skirt and crystal earrings) to now, after dinner, he was having the time of his life. Perhaps it was the mere presence of Chihiro that made him feel good, and he pondered that idea for a while.

"Okay!" Chihiro yelled, standing up on the sofa to get everyone's attention. "We're going to watch a movie, so what do you guys want to see?" She held up the various DVDs.

They ended up watching Tonari no Totoro, and by the end of it all of them wanted their own real Totoro, especially Naruko.

Afterwards those who couldn't stay the night began to leave, until at last it was just Naruko, Rin, Oukami, Kohaku and Chihiro.

Oukami was staring at the picture on the DVD box when he asked, "These Totoro things, they're spirits, right?"

"I guess so," Chihiro replied.

He looked up at her and asked, "Are they real?"

"Well…" she trailed off.

"Of course not!" Naruko said. "They're cute little made up things."

Oukami grinned. "I don't think so. I think they're real, and they live everywhere, like out in the garden, in the forest, possibly even under your bed."

"I've never seen one," Naruko declared.

"Maybe that's because…" Oukami pretended to think, "they're invisible to us because they don't want us seeing them. What do you think of that, Rin?" He stared at her meaningfully.

"That…that sounds pretty good, I guess…"

Kohaku caught on faster and said, "Maybe they're all beyond that tunnel in the middle of the forest."

"You mean that spooky place?" asked Naruko. "I don't like it there. They've got weird shrines and strange double-headed statues." She shuddered.

"They probably have spirits in them then." Oukami grinned. "Hey maybe sometime we can go take a look all together and check it out. How's that sound?"

Naruko pouted. "If you're thinking of scaring me, don't, 'cause it's not going to work! Only you get scared."

"Oh yeah? I'm all grown up already you know, I don't get scared."

Rin's eyes flashed and she said loudly, "Yeah right."

He waved aside her comment and continued, "How about tomorrow you and I go to the forest and take a look?"

"Fine!" Naruko yelled. "I can't wait to see you scared!"

"I won't get scared."

"You will!"

"I won't."

"You will!"

"I won't."

"You will!"

"I won't."

"You will!"

"You won't."

"I will!"

"Ha!" Oukami shouted triumphantly. "I win!"

Rin laughed at how childish they could be, especially Oukami. She looked at Kohaku to see if he found it funny too but he was looking at Chihiro. She was deep in thought, and he wondered when it would be time to break it to her.

- - -

Chihiro lay on her back, staring up the ceiling but not seeing it. The conversation from earlier was still ringing in her ears, making her expect to see a little totoro pop up from nowhere, or worse, a spirit with an oversized head with a beaky nose decked with cheap imitation jewels. Wait, where did she get such a complex image from?

She sighed and twirled the glittering purple hair band between her fingers. There was something bothering her, something important. And the worse thing was that she could not remember it.

Out of the corner of her eye a figure moved along the wall slowly, stopping every now and then to pick up something from the shelf. Chihiro watched quietly for a while before sitting up. The other turned around and stared at her with his emerald green eyes shining from an unknown source of light in the semi-darkness.

"What are you looking at?" Chihiro asked quietly.

Kohaku held up a framed photo in response.

Chihiro rose and carefully jumped over the sleeping form of Rin to get to him. She squinted her eyes to try and make out which one he was looking at.

"Who's the baby in the picture?" he asked.

"Oh." Chihiro grinned, remembering what her mother had said. "That's me, and you see that necklace my mum's wearing? Well apparently I made her lose it because I pulled it off when we were walking in the city."

Kohaku shook his head. "You were naughty."

"Well, yeah." She smiled a little. "The necklace was really expensive too. I think the pendant was a real diamond."

He chuckled softly and set the photo back down and picked up another. "What about this one?"

"That was when we went on a picnic next to a river. See the pink shoes? I've still got them somewhere in the house. My dad thinks it's a miracle that I emerged from the water completely unhurt after going under and almost drowning. I even got the little pink shoe back." She grinned and pointed at another photo. "That was earlier on the same day. I was trying to read the kanji on the sign – the Kohaku River. It took me ages to figure –" she stopped and stared at the boy next to her. His green eyes gleamed with a strange hunger mixed with hope and the need to tell her the truth straight out.

"Do…do I know you?" Chihiro asked tentatively.

* * *

Well, is that a cliffie or what? Anyway, please review!

_Reposted 22/11/05_ _to remove review responses_


	15. Going Home

This will probably be the last chapter for a while. Tomorrow we're going on an overnight history excursion to Canberra (possibly the most boring place in Australia…) however the bus trip should be good!

* * *

She stepped closer to him and asked, "Haku?"

He nodded, and all of a sudden he found himself wrapped in a very tight hug. He was dimly aware that she was sobbing into his shoulder, and he awkwardly patted her on the back, all the while hoping the others wouldn't wake up just yet.

"I can't believe I…" Her voice was muffled in his sleeve.

"It's easy to forget," Kohaku said quietly, a hint of dryness tinting his words.

He waited until her crying subsided before he said, "We're going back to the spirit world very soon. The question is Chihiro, do you want to come with us?"

"Us?"

"Rin and Oukami."

"You mean that boy is a spirit too?"

"Oh yeah. What did you think?"

Chihiro and Kohaku looked over at the speaker, who was sitting up with not a trace of sleep in his purple eyes.

"Were you…?" Kohaku left the question unfinished, dreading the answer.

"Awake all this time? Yep." Oukami stood up and stretched. "You make a wonderful pair of lovebirds." He laughed when he saw Chihiro glance at Kohaku, blushing furiously while Kohaku averted his eyes.

He let himself enjoy the moment a few seconds longer before asking, "So are you coming with us or not?"

Kohaku locked gazes with Chihiro, and she found herself unable to resist those brilliant green eyes. They hypnotised her, and she found herself saying, "Yes" without a second thought.

Oukami grinned. "All right, that's all settled. Now to wake up Rin, that's a _big_ problem…"

As he proceeded to poke her out of her sleep much to her protests and mumblings of 'shut up you stupid perv', Kohaku asked Chihiro, "You're sure about this?"

She thought for a moment before replying, "Yes. I'd like to see Kamaji again, as well as Zeniba, Bou and Kaonashi. Even Yubaba."

Kohaku smiled. "I wouldn't count on it."

Suddenly she looked worried. "What about Naruko and my parents?"

Oukami looked up and said, "Write them a note, tell them you're sorry, then run off and hope they don't get angry and freak for your safety."

Kohaku just glared. But Chihiro nodded and went to get a sheet of paper and pen. Once she left, Kohaku hissed, "What kind of advice was that?" He looked to Rin for support only to find that she was fast asleep once again.

* * *

Several minutes later the four of them were outside the house, standing in the crisp wind under the starry night. Chihiro was beginning to freeze, even with her jacket on. Kohaku noticed this and suggested, "Why don't we fly so that we can get there faster?"

Oukami looked at him and nodded. They both moved a little way off and transformed. When Kohaku finished, he noticed Chihiro smiling at seeing his dragon form again. He smiled back as best he could but it turned out more as a feral grin. But Chihiro knew better, and he lowered himself so she could get on. Then he turned to see if Oukami was ready.

"Do I _have _to get on him?" Rin complained loudly.

Oukami was no longer shorter than Rin. Instead he was a huge silver wolf with a violet streak all the way from his nose to the tip of his tail. His silver fur rippled in the slight wind like the waves of the ocean and his purple eyes shone with amusement at Rin's objection. His paws were large and strong, and combined with the ivory claws that protruded slightly he could easily take a person down with one swipe.

"I refuse," she said stubbornly.

Oukami rolled his eyes – quite an unnatural and comical thing for a wolf – and reached out to clamp his strong jaws on the back of her clothes. Twisting around, he dumped her on his back and leapt into the sky before she could get off. Chihiro laughed as Rin was forced to hold on tightly to his fur otherwise risk falling off.

She and Kohaku caught up to them, where Rin was whacking Oukami on his head and cursing, "You got drool on my new clothes! You hear that? _Drool!_"

Chihiro just laughed harder.

* * *

A short while later they were all standing outside the tunnel. Chihiro was uncertain whether to go first and was about to voice her unease, but Rin got there first.

"Is there something incredibly pretty about a dark tunnel?" she asked sardonically. And with that, she marched in without a backward glance.

Oukami grinned. "Don't you think she's adorable?"

"Not the way you're thinking," Chihiro replied, following after Rin with Kohaku close behind.

They emerged from the tunnel, and Chihiro was surprised to see the sun almost disappearing over the horizon. The air was pleasantly warm even though it was almost night time, which contrasted sharply with the chilliness on the other side of the tunnel.

As they made their way across the grassy meadow to the 'amusement park', Kohaku asked Chihiro, "Do you want to see Kamaji first?"

She nodded in response, and he took them by the backstreets to avoid unnecessary attention from the shopkeepers opening their restaurants for the night's business.

Going down the long flights of stairs, they finally reached the boiler room door. Kohaku pulled open the door and gestured them inside, then went in himself and shut it quietly behind him.

The susuwatari were the first to notice the newcomers – namely Chihiro as they all dropped their coals at her feet and leapt happily up and down squeakily. Kamaji looked up from his usual to place, ready to yell at his runts to get back to work, but…

"Chihiro! So you managed to get her!"

"Yes," Rin said.

"Thanks to _me_," Oukami said pointedly.

"Hmm?" Kamaji leaned closer to get a better look. "This is the Trickster?"

"I'm famous," he said, grinning.

"Shut up with your stupid ego!" snapped Rin.

Kamaji asked, "So, how did it go? Tell me everything." He put his work on hold to give his full attention to Kohaku who narrated everything that happened, with Rin interrupting if he missed something and Chihiro listening quietly. Oukami however was poking the susuwatari for fun and making quips on almost everything Kohaku said. In the end Rin told him to go eat soot, which he did. Or at least pretended to.

When Kohaku finished at last, Kamaji asked, "So what are you going to do now, Haku?"

"Well…" he paused, hoping that the others wouldn't laugh at him, "maybe Chihiro could stay in the spirit world?"

Oukami snorted with laughter, and Kohaku secretly wished he had never said that. "How's that going to be possible?" Oukami asked between chuckles. "She's human, you're not, and there's no way those Great spirits are ever going to let her. You might as well let her go back. I really didn't know you were planning to get her to stay here."

"Well we don't care if you don't think she can stay! We're going to try anyway, right?" Rin looked at Kohaku hopefully.

He nodded in response, and to his relief Chihiro nodded as well. He was counting on the way she acted from before that she would want to stay here, but he wasn't really sure. Maybe he should have asked her before…but that was irrelevant now.

Abruptly the wooden panel opened and as one they all froze as a spirit woman wearing the pink Aburaya uniform emerged, yelling, "Breakfast, runts!" She shut the panel behind her and turned.

"A human! And _you_ two!" Her dark eyes were wide as she pointed accusingly at them.

Oukami jumped up and down like a hyperactive kid. "And me! Me! Don't forget me!"

Rin quickly cuffed him on the back of the head to shut him up, but it was too late.

"_You_!" the spirit woman shrieked.

She spun around and practically flew out of the boiler room. They could hear her screaming for Yubaba even after she slammed the panel shut.

"Now you've done it," Oukami stated.

"What do you mean we've done it!" Rin yelled. "You've done it! You totally blew it for us!"

He ignored her and remarked, "I really _am _famous." He looked pleased with himself.

"You'd better remember that this is _your_ fault!" she yelled in his face.

Oukami broke out of his thoughts and yelled right back, "My fault? _My_ fault! Who wanted to visit the old six-legged freak?" He stared accusingly in Chihiro's direction.

Kohaku stepped in. "Whatever it is, you can discuss this another time. Right now we need to get out of here!"

"See you sometime Kamaji!" Chihiro called as she ran out of the boiler room after Kohaku, who was already transforming. Behind her the silver wolf barrelled out of the door with Rin clinging onto his back. They both shot into the sky and raced away from the bathhouse.

Chihiro looked behind her and breathed a sigh of relief, "Good, there's no one behind us."

Oukami growled warningly, and Rin pointed downwards. "There!" she shouted.

Several hundred metres below but gaining on them quickly was Yubaba in her bird form, looking _very _angry.

* * *

Next chapter: chaos ensues!

Kamaji _does _have six limbs, right?

**By the way, everyone give me your opinion: should Haku and Oukami be able to use magic when in their animal form?**

_Reposted 22/11/05_ _to remove review responses_


	16. Shield

I'm sorry for such a long wait! And I'm sorry for the possibility of inconsistencies in writing style. It's been so long since I've written this story. By the way, this chapter was meant to be longer but if I were to finish it you wouldn't see me posting anything for at least another month. So this chapter is meant to let you all know that I haven't given up on this story, and to keep you entertained. I hope.

Oh, the person who mentioned that Canberra can't be such a bad place, well it really is. It's a hole. Plus, it was very cold at night…needless to say I didn't sleep very well.

Thanks to all who gave their opinion on magic and animal forms. As you'll see, I had no use for that information here, but I think I will later on. And okay, Kamaji has 8 limbs. I shall change that someday...

By the way, I had big problems as to what to call this chapter. And I should stop rattling on about nothing and let you guys read! (Though you could've just scrolled down…)

* * *

**Chapter 16: Shield**

Kohaku felt the fur on his back tingle at the presence of magic. Even with the warning, he barely had time to dodge Yubaba's fire disc that screamed past him like a comet. He turned around, ready to fight back if he had to. He focused on Yubaba, trying to predict her next move.

Just then, though, Oukami's mind touched his briefly, yet the brief contact said all. _Head to the tunnel, I'll take care of Big-nose._

The dragon paused, uncertain if he should really leave. He was pretty certain that Oukami could take care of himself, but he still didn't trust the demon. Sure, he had helped them so far, but for how much longer was anybody's guess.

"Haku? We'd better go, Oukami can take care of Yubaba," Chihiro said, her voice quavering a little from the shock of almost getting burnt by the fire disc.

Kohaku hesitated only for a moment longer before flying at a breakneck speed towards the tunnel. Of course Oukami was right. Chihiro would be in danger if he involved himself in a fight now.

He landed outside the building and Chihiro slid off his back. He changed back to his boy form as Chihiro asked, "Do we go in?"

"I don't know," he replied, looking up at the sky where Rin was still clinging onto the wolf's back.

A sudden gush of wind swept past them, stirring up projectiles of sandy dirt and leaves. Chihiro gasped and protected her eyes against the barrage of odd objects. She flinched as the stinging of grainy dirt increased against her bare skin until somebody pushed her against the wall and sheltered her from most of the dust storm.

After what seemed to be ages, the howling wind whispered away into absolute stillness. Chihiro peeked out between her fingers and what greeted her sight was Kohaku standing protectively over her. Looking past him, she saw what seemed to be a wall of leaves. Beside her was Oukami in his boy form again, and Rin. Both were covered in a thick layer of dust like Kohaku. Looking down at herself she saw that she looked quite a bit cleaner than the rest of them.

A blush rose to her cheeks and she suddenly found the ground very interesting while mumbling her thanks to Kohaku. When there was no response, she stole a glance at him and was surprised to find his usually pale face tinged with pink. Why was he…?

Her thoughts were interrupted as a loud explosion from outside shook the ground. Rin glared at Oukami. "How strong is that leafy wall you put up?"

"Its leaves," he answered. "Leaves and dirt. Come on, let's get going." He ushered them around the upturned benches in the room towards the tunnel.

Another explosion followed, and on the third one the wall of leaves came down and Yubaba tore through like a bullet train, smoke rolling off her ears. She screeched as she saw the four of them escaping.

"Haku!" she shrieked. "Come back here! I'll turn you into a pig and if you're not eaten I'll turn you into coal!"

Yubaba began a long string of obscenities, but unfortunately for her, none of them were listening. Oukami was pushing Kohaku towards the portal, saying, "Don't go all the way through, just half way, do you understand?"

Kohaku frowned. He understood but he wasn't sure…

"Trust me, it's safe, all right? I'm controlling it." Kohaku stopped in his tracks, stunned at his statement. "Get going, Big-nose is coming." Oukami gave him one last shove towards the portal. Kohaku sighed in defeat and grabbed Chihiro's hand and stepped through with her.

As they disappeared into the darkness, Yubaba's fury rose another notch. The little brats were getting away! She let loose her favourite attack again, but this time not at Oukami.

"Rin!" Oukami yelled, seeing what Yubaba was planning. "Move, or you'll be killed!" The fire disc raced closer to her, and still Rin was frozen, almost transfixed in shock.

Desperately Oukami leapt straight at her and pushed her out of the way. Rin seemed to come to her senses as she fell, and she couldn't help but gasp as the fire disc hit Oukami dead on. He staggered back from the force of it before he regained control and absorbed the attack, though it left him a little singed.

Yubaba cackled with glee. "How interesting," she gloated. "I didn't think you would take the attack for the girl, you being such a 'heartless' demon and all." Still chuckling, she advanced on them. "Looks like I was wrong, you _do _have a weakness."

Oukami met Rin's shocked brown eyes for a moment before turning his attention back to Yubaba. His mouth was set in a firm thin line as he readied his next attack.

"Don't get hasty," Yubaba chided before pointing a jewelled finger towards the ceiling, and immediately a low rumbling sound began. Small pebbles from the ceiling began raining down on the portal's entrance, followed by larger and larger chunks.

"Come on!" Oukami said, cancelling his spell as he pulled Rin to her feet. He dragged her over to the portal as the rumbling escalated into a deafening roar. The chunks of ceiling were almost completely blocking off the entrance. With a swift motion he sent his fist into the thick rocky wall and a small part crumbled away.

"Hurry!" Rin urged. She turned around to look at Yubaba, just in time to see her throw a small glowing disc that disappeared as soon as it hit the ground near her feet, but in its place rose clouds of foggy purplish-black gas that obscured Yubaba from her sight. Rin frowned, trying to figure out what it was, when in her mind something clicked. "Poison fog!" She quickly held her breath.

Oukami swore before holding his breath likewise, all the while pounding the wall. Rin began to help by clearing away the debris that Oukami created.

At last there was a hole just enough to fit one person. Oukami shoved Rin through and then crawled in himself, but something snagged his ankle. He gasped in surprise as Yubaba's jewelled hand dragged him back out. "Get lost, you witch!" He leaned forward and bit her arm, hard. The hand was quickly snatched away in what Oukami hoped was considerable pain. Panting, he licked the blood away from his teeth and crawled into the hole again.

Emerging out the other side, he was surprised to find Rin just outside the portal, though with one hand clapped forcefully over her nose and mouth. She gave him a look that seemed almost relieved before practically running through, Oukami following close behind.

* * *

So…! What do you think? Review please! Or may a thousand rotten eggplants come raining down on you!

_Reposted 22/11/05_ _to remove review responses_


	17. Unmasked

Aha! Everyone, I'm BACK! Well…sort of. I have exams next week. Anyone heard of the School Certificate that Yr 10 people in Australia have? Well, that will be on next week Monday and Tuesday. I should be studying.

Anyway, this is a MASSIVE chapter, if you would look at the scroll bar! (nods happily!) It's a treat from me (at least I _think _so) since I hardly ever update now. I wrote it in parts over a period of something like, two months, so… I don't know what the outcome is going to be like, but in any case, happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 17: Unmasked**

The silence that met Rin's ears was as deafening as the earthquake outside. But that wasn't all. As far as she could tell, her feet were not on the floor, so she was probably floating. On top of that it was pitch black and she couldn't hear a thing, not even herself. "Hello?" she shouted, but it was wasted breath. She might as well have been mouthing those words.

Suddenly it was like somebody flicked the light switch on in a dark room. Rin blinked, taking in her surroundings. Everything around her was grey. Different shades of grey that swirled and eddied in random directions. The light by which she could see seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. To her right stood Kohaku and Chihiro, and Rin began to run over to them.

But she didn't seem to be moving. No matter how hard she ran, she always seemed to be running on the same spot. And like before, there was no ground to stand on, she could only float. She was glad it wasn't making her nauseous. "Geez, what is this place?" she muttered in annoyance as she attempted to get to Kohaku and Chihiro's side again.

"Running doesn't work."

"Wha...?" Rin spun around quickly, only to find Oukami. "Oh, it's just you."

Surprisingly, he let that slide. "You have to fly."

"Fly?" she repeated uncomprehendingly.

"Lean forward and you'll get the idea. Go over to Haku, I have to take care of something." With that he flew off. To Rin it looked more like floating, like he was a puppet on strings. Her eyes followed him to a round, black circle with edges the crackled like fire. It seemed to be just hovering there amidst the swirling grey. She watched him as he began to concentrate, his hands making some kind of seal, before she turned away and began to master the art of float-flying, as she now thought of it.

It was slow progress, but Rin found that if she moved her arms a bit she would go faster. Soon she found the whole process fun, even exhilarating. But that feeling evaporated when she noticed Chihiro and Kohaku trying to stifle their laughs. Were they laughing at her?

"What?" she glared when she reached them. "What's so funny?"

"You," Chihiro said between giggles. "You looked like you were swimming."

Rin frowned and crossed her arms. "Oh shut up."

Suddenly a brilliant flash of light blinded them and Rin distinctly felt herself being pulled into a vortex of air. She tried to scream but nothing came out. Just as suddenly as it came the feeling stopped, and she could see again. The portal was gone; once again everything was swirling grey. She looked over at Chihiro and Kohaku, the latter having an unfamiliar expression of disbelief and awe. "What?" she asked.

He shook his head, saying, "Do you know how much energy that took? Shutting a portal in a normal plane is hard enough, in this place between worlds it's even harder, and on top of that he had to hold this illusion of swirling grey, enable us to breathe normally, and hear and see each other. If we didn't have this illusion we'd all have gone crazy because we wouldn't have had anything to pinpoint our location. Can you imagine that, existing in nothing?"

They both looked at him, the enormity of the task impacting them and stunning them to silence. As one they all realised how much they owed Oukami, aka trickster and demon.

"Well, that's that." Oukami had come up behind them, looking worse for wear than ever. His face was pale and there were dark circles under his dull eyes. He looked as if he would keel over and sleep for days.

"Are you all right?" Chihiro asked worriedly.

He waved off her concerns, attempting a light-hearted smile that suddenly turned into a hacking cough. His eyes watered as the burning feeling from his lungs intensified; somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered why he hadn't noticed it before. At last the coughing subsided, and he looked up at the three of them standing around him awkwardly, uncertain of what to do. He didn't blame them; he hadn't felt so drained of energy in a long time. He rubbed his chest, easing the burning pain a little. "Poison gas," he explained, shocked at how hoarse his voice was. He fought back down what seemed to be another bout of coughing, not wanting to worry them too much. "Let's go," he managed to force out. He beckoned them to follow.

There was a strange whoosh and they were suddenly all whisked off to another place. Rin still recognised it as the 'between worlds' place, but with a difference. There was a frosted glass-like platform as thin as paper, and around it was a protective barrier invisible to the eye but she could clearly feel it when she passed through. Atop the platform was a cluster of odd, mountain-like piles. As Rin looked closer, the piles, haphazardly scattered around the platform, were actually the strangest collection of objects she had ever seen. Priceless treasures were mixed in with useless items that were similar to what was found in Aburaya's rubbish tip.

"My junk," Oukami gestured around. "Bath over there," he pointed straight at one of the numerous piles, "and I'll see you later." Then he disappeared behind another taller pile.

The other three exchanged looks, and Chihiro asked, concern in her voice, "Do you think he's okay?"

"I'm sure he will be," Kohaku replied, though his eyes betrayed concern as well.

They set about finding the bath, which actually didn't turn out to be that hard. It was out of place and in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the piles of junk. There was a large hoop that hovered (probably by magic) over the bath with a shower curtain hanging off it to provide adequate privacy. When they looked in, the tub was already filled with steamy herbal water. There were no taps to be seen.

"So where does the water come from?" Rin asked. She had never seen anything like it; even the bathhouse had taps – a basic necessity.

"I suppose we'll figure it out eventually," Chihiro replied, though she was as bewildered as Rin.

At both Kohaku and Rin's urging, Chihiro took the first bath. Kohaku reasoned that since she was the least dusty out of them all, it wouldn't make sense to let her go last because by then the water would be so dirty that Chihiro would end up being dirtier than before.

Much to their amazement later on, they found the water to be just as crystalline as before, like it had never been used.

"I could drink from this," Rin declared, dipping a finger in, "if it wasn't this herbal stuff."

The water misted over for a moment, then cleared into cool, fresh water. Rin blinked and sniffed the water carefully. She couldn't detect the herb smell anymore except for traces of it still lingering in the air. "Wow," she murmured.

They had found clean clothes laid out for them, which they all gladly exchanged for their dusty ones. Afterwards they spent their time exploring, not knowing what else to do. They had found a box filled with dumplings and other random objects. Since that was the only food they had seen, they each took one. As they were munching away hungrily, Kohaku realised, "This is where Oukami gets his stuff! Remember, Rin? When he pulled out one of these dumplings out of thin air? He was actually reaching through a portal to here." He reached upwards towards the grey, groping blindly until suddenly his hand disappeared. "It's only a small tear, but it's big enough." His excitement and amazement were equally reflected in Chihiro and Rin, and together they experimented with the tiny portal.

"Where does it lead to?" Chihiro asked, wiggling her fingers in the hole.

Rin shrugged, and Kohaku said, "I think it's one of those things we'll never understand."

Later on, it was Chihiro who brought up the question, "How long are we going to stay here?"

"And what are we going to do once we get back to the spirit world?" Rin added.

They both turned to Kohaku, who looked uncertain for a moment before he said, "Chihiro, you'll be staying with us in the spirit world, right?"

She nodded firmly, and Kohaku continued, "According to the laws we have, you're not allowed to stay permanently unless you have permission."

Rin's eyes narrowed. "Those five oh-so-important spirits?"

He nodded, "That's the problem."

"What?" asked Chihiro, confused.

Rin elaborated, "They're old-fashioned, conservative, conceited and old, with a one-track way of thinking. Because there has never been a human who wants to stay – be proud, you're the first –" Rin patted her shoulder, "they won't take the idea easily. And they'll be doubly annoyed since Kohaku managed to regain all his memories about you, as well as opening the portal without their permission and so on."

"Oh yeah," she said, recalling the events Kohaku had told them at the boiler room back at Aburaya. It seemed so long ago.

"But we'll convince them, don't worry!" A big, confident grin spread across Rin's face and Chihiro couldn't help but smile.

* * *

Rin rolled over for the hundredth time, realising that finding a comfortable position was near impossible. She looked over to Kohaku and Chihiro; they slept close together, almost touching but not quite. Rin would have found that amusing – something to tease them about – but right now she didn't care. She desperately wanted to go to sleep, but she couldn't.

They had found this secluded place earlier, junk-piles surrounding them on three sides (it was the best they could get) and after clearing out the litter for an empty space, they settled down to sleep. Both Kohaku and Chihiro fell asleep in a matter of minutes, leaving her to count sheep and glare at the piles of junk and the swirling grey above her. It was not fun.

During all this time, from looking for Oukami right up to now, she hadn't had time to have a good think to herself. She remembered that she had followed Kohaku in hopes of finding Oukami so that he might help her remember her name. But that purpose was lost long ago amidst all the adventure they had. Now she just wished to see Chihiro and Haku safely together first before worrying about herself.

She rolled over, again. What was her real name anyway? She had spent ages trying to rack her memory for it at the bathhouse, mainly when she was first employed, and just after Haku had left. Chihiro was probably the first worker to have been freed from Yubaba's greedy clutches, and hopefully not the last. Who would have known that one human would have made such a difference to all their lives? Once the word had got out amongst the bathhouse workers that two people had managed to get their name back and leave Yubaba, everyone, she included, had tried their hardest to get theirs too. Some even went as far to ask Yubaba straight out, which was a stupid thing to do for when they did they always came back downstairs demoted to the lowest of the lowest of workers. Though – here she smiled to herself – no one could be as stupid as her, running away and ending up in several life-threatening situations.

And of course, there was that incident at the inn at Kagemori, where they had first met Oukami and they had played that card game. The strange grey shades surrounding people, which had somehow enabled her to surprise him by coming close to winning. Speaking of Oukami…she thought back to when they were in the human world, and what she had witnessed that night the three of them slept for the first time under the same roof. She pondered this for a moment, wildly guessing what that whole incident was about. Something clearly scared him that night, and with Oukami being Oukami, whatever scared him like that was probably enough to scare the living daylights out of anyone else.

He was a puzzle, really. Often the most unassuming people would be the most surprising, she realised. Sometimes their actions would not immediately communicate into words of explanation as to why they did it. Like Chihiro saving Haku. From what she knew, Chihiro had no idea who Haku really was at the time, and yet, she still helped him. And also…why did Oukami save her from getting hit by that fire disc? She really couldn't figure _that_ one out. Unless… Did he actually _care_?

With so much on her mind; it was no wonder that she couldn't sleep.

She turned over once again and began to clear her mind when a cry shattered the silence. Rin sat bolt upright. It was not a loud cry – neither Haku nor Chihiro had woken – but it was a cry tainted with fear that penetrated her. With only one other person in this place, there was no doubt about who it was.

Rin clambered to her feet and hurried in the direction of the sound, the incident that night in the human world still fresh in her mind. Rounding the bend, she caught sight of Oukami and slowed down, suddenly feeling out of place. Violet eyes blankly stared into space, and Rin hesitantly called, "Oukami?"

She approached cautiously, as if treading on thin ice. Oukami was absolutely still, eyes unfocused and completely oblivious to his surroundings. She took a few more steps when abruptly he snapped out of his trance. Aware of her in an instant, his posture shifted ever so slightly to defensive and his eyes flashed to a hard glare. Rin inadvertently took a step back. "I – I'm sorry…!" she stuttered, backing away further. "I'll just…"

"What are you doing here?" Oukami demanded. His voice shook with anger, partly at her and partly at himself for being so careless to be caught unaware like this.

"Nothing!" Rin said quickly. "I mean, I heard you and I kinda came to check…" she was babbling and she knew it.

"You heard me?" Panic began to seep into his voice, though Rin did not notice, flustered as she was for being caught in this uncomfortable situation.

"You cried out, that's all, but…but I thought you might be…you know, like that night when we were in the human world and you were talking to someone else in your sleep and –"

"That night?" Dread took hold of him and he launched to his feet. "What did you hear?" When she didn't answer immediately, he repeated, biting off every syllable in fury, "_What did you hear?"_

Taken aback by his unexpected ferocity, she stammered out, "I…well nothing much…" Violet eyes flashed dangerously; Rin gulped and forced herself to continue, "You were talking to someone and…oh, I don't know! You did something terrible to him I think – he was really angry with you, and when you opened your eyes they were red…"

Oukami growled, forcing simmering rage beneath the surface with effort and between clenched teeth he said, "Never, _never,_ repeat what you said to anybody, _or else_." He left the threat hanging ominously before sinking to the ground, all his energy drained.

Rin stood frozen for a moment, completely shocked. She felt her heartbeat return to normal before she quietly turned to leave, when two soft words stopped her. "I'm sorry."

She turned. Oukami had his knees tucked under his chin, staring at the ground. He was talking, so quietly she could hardly hear him. "What?" Rin asked in confusion.

"…why am I so stupid?" he asked rhetorically. "I shouldn't have gotten angry with you. Damn it, you're probably scared of me now." He laughed derisively.

Rin blinked, then said, "No, of course not."

He continued on unheedingly, "But whatever. Why, why do I even _care_?" He sighed. "I'm the biggest idiot in the whole damn world."

Rin crouched down in front of him, and with a sudden, swift movement she hit him on the head. Hard.

"Ow!" he yelped, falling backwards. "What was that for?" Tenderly he touched the bump on his head, glaring as he did so.

"Just knocking some sense back into you – you deserve it," she retorted. "You have some seriously major issues, wolf-boy. Why should I be scared of you? I don't even know _who_ you were talking to anyway. All it sounded like was some guy with a deep dark voice, so what?"

"He's not exactly 'some guy with a deep dark voice'," Oukami corrected.

"Then who is he? He can't be much worse than you."

"Well…uh, he's actually Tanuki-sensei." Oukami looked distinctly uncomfortable.

Rin's eyes widened. "You mean…_the_ Tanuki?" When Oukami nodded, she backed away. Everyone knew of the infamous monster demon, so powerful that he could have taken on all five Great spirits with ease if he wanted to, and to think… "Is he in you?" Rin asked fearfully.

Oukami laughed outright at that. "Hell no, I'd go insane if he was."

"Then…?" Rin left the question hanging in the air.

He swallowed his pride, feeling that he owed her an explanation. "They're just dreams. Nightmares…whatever." He looked away. "Every time I fall asleep… It's always the same dream, I watch myself kill him again and again, and he's never stopped asking me to bring him back to life."

"But you killed him," Rin paused, taking time to absorb that incredible fact, "so how come his voice keeps coming through you? And it's been what? A thousand years since then?"

"More than that, but his spirit still isn't weakened."

"And…and you've been having this same dream for _over a thousand years_?"

"It isn't so bad," he said with forced cheerfulness. "If you don't sleep you won't dream."

Rin had no answer to that. Then she remembered, "Did you say 'sensei'?"

Oukami nodded, still grinning for all his worth.

"How did that happen?" she asked curiously.

"I wanted to learn to fly. He just happened to be around."

"Then why'd you kill him?"

"Because. Just because."

Rin glared daggers, and Oukami defensively elaborated, "Demons like to kill each other, you know?"

"But you're a wolf spirit," she objected.

"But when you learn from a demon, you pick things up, yeah?" He nodded. "And now my question – why weren't you sleeping?"

"What? I… I was!" Rin protested. She didn't want him thinking that she was worried about him, did she?

"No you weren't. If you were asleep and I woke you up, then that dragon and his human would have woken too. But since you're the only one here, it proves that you were awake when you heard me. Besides, you're a heavy sleeper."

"Am not!" She glowered down on him.

Oukami snorted disbelievingly, then asked straight to the point, "What's on your mind?"

"Uh…" She stopped, trying to weigh all her questions and worries to see which was the most important. But the task proved impossible, so she finally blurted out everything. "Why did you protect me from Yubaba's fire disc? What's my real name? And at Kagemori, when we were playing Cheat, I could kind of _see_ a greyish shadow around everyone…what's that?" She took a deep breath after saying all that without pausing.

Oukami considered for a moment, then said, "For your second question, I can't help you. You're going to have to remember that yourself, or try and get Big-nose to tell you." Rin opened her mouth to object but he kept going. "Your third question; I've met someone who has that same ability – to see through lies. So that's why you suddenly became so good at that game," he mused.

"So I can tell when people are lying?" She looked delighted at the prospect.

"Apparently."

"That's cool." Immediately she began to think of the possibilities, and decided that she had better start practising.

"And for your first question…" Rin snapped to attention. "Well…I don't know," he admitted, frowning in concentration. "I just did it. It seemed like the right thing to do."

"But you got hurt because of me!" Rin protested, suddenly noticing his charred clothes that stuck to his skin.

Oukami had a disgruntled look on his face. "Yes, it's all your fault. Heh, I don't even know why I saved you," he said scathingly.

Rin fired up. "I don't even know why I _care_ about –!" She abruptly stopped and mentally slapped herself. Quickly she glanced at Oukami who was thankfully paying no attention to her while using magic to unstick his clothes from his skin. She relaxed ever so slightly.

"Well…goodnight," Rin said after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

It was only after she had disappeared round the bend did Oukami let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

* * *

Well now! I hope this chapter worked out okay. I spent AGES working on the part with Rin and Oukami over the holidays! (which was three weeks ago.) I think this is the longest I spent on a chapter. It was one of those chapters where you have to spend time checking for plot holes and either patching them up or going "uh-oh".

Thank you for everyone who reviewed!

Oh yeah. Review please? I'd like to know how my hard work went!

_Reposted 22/11/05_ _to remove review responses_


	18. Betrayal

I'm back everyone! It's less than a month too! Anyway, as part of my ramblings I shall comment on the new rule that ffnet has come up with (namely the review replies ban). I think it's kind of stupid…like, some people can't be bothered clicking the 'reply' button for every review. Oh well, who am I to complain?

Other ramblings: I write her name as 'Rin' since you would write it that way in Jap. I haven't watched the movie in a while, but I think they pronounce it as Lin anyway. But Rin looks better!

On with the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 18**

The next day (or at least Rin _thought_ it was) Oukami came bouncing in and waking each of them up in his annoyingly cheerful manner, informing them – amongst other useless scraps of rambling nonsense – that today they were leaving and that months had already passed in the spirit world.

Rin looked carefully at Oukami. He gave no indication of remembering their conversation that seemingly took place a night ago, so Rin decided not to bring it up. He could keep his secrets.

They moved out of the protective barrier that encircled the place and flew a short distance before Oukami opened another portal, leading to a small clearing surrounded by tall thin trees with few branches and crackly shrubs.

"Where are we?" Chihiro asked.

"Don't know," Oukami said carelessly, after shutting the portal behind them. "Look, is there any safe place where I can drop you guys off? I have something to do."

The three of them exchanged glances. "Well…" Kohaku began, "Zeniba's cottage might do." They nodded in agreement.

Oukami however looked torn between disbelief and laughing outright. In the end he settled for a smirk, saying, "That old witch? Big-nose number two?"

Chihiro turned on him and said angrily, "She's really very nice, you know."

"Then she must have mellowed out a bit since I last saw her. She and her twin used to run the bathhouse together, both being such power-hungry hags." He nodded smugly, seeing their shocked looks on their faces. Then he slipped into his wolf form and yipped impatiently.

* * *

Zeniba looked up from her sewing. "We have visitors, Kaonashi. Let them in, will you?"

"Uh," he nodded, gliding over to the door, just in time to see the dragon and the wolf shimmer into their humanoid forms. He nodded to them, opening the door a little wider.

Zeniba rose from her seat, smoothening out her puffy blue dress she always wore. "Haku, Chihiro," she greeted, then looked questioningly at Rin, who bowed deeply and introduced herself. Then Zeniba shifted her attention to the last visitor. Her eyes narrowed, recognising Oukami. "You've changed your form again," she said contemptuously.

Oukami shrugged. "I got tired of my old one." Then he brightened. "You've changed too. It must be a good story," he smirked.

"Not really," she disagreed, a hint of warning in her voice.

"It sounds good anyway." He then pointed to the door and looked expectantly at the other three.

"Hey!" Rin said indignantly. "We can stay if we want to!"

"No, you'd better go," Zeniba said. "Kaonashi, you too."

After a moment, they all nodded briefly before filing out the door. Oukami waited until the door clicked shut, then sat down at the wooden table and grabbed a slice of cheese on a plate nearby. To Zeniba he said, "Let's hear it."

* * *

Outside, Chihiro, Rin, Kaonashi and Kohaku all had their ears pressed to the window at the side of the house, the last of which looked disappointed as the faint crackling of a magical barrier was erected. "Zeniba's put up a spell to prevent us from eavesdropping," he told them.

"Well, break it down, Haku!" Rin ordered. "What's she hiding from us?"

"I don't know, but I'm not going to try and eavesdrop. Zeniba won't like it," he said calmly. Then he turned away, walking towards the grassy open meadow.

Rin glared irritably and shouted after him, "But what if it's something important?"

Kohaku looked back with a faint smile, his soft words carried on the brisk wind. "I respect her privacy."

Rin stared, mouth half-open to say something more but nothing came. Then Chihiro brushed her shoulder as she walked past. "Come on," she beckoned. Then she broke into a run, following Haku, which left Rin to huff and complain half-heartedly about his apparent laziness to Kaonashi.

* * *

Oukami wolfed down the cheese, it really was very nice.

"So yes, he was just an ordinary worker at Aburaya, and _he_ made me realise how wrong it was to take someone's real name away, amongst other things. Then I gave him his name back, as well as the other workers' names, and he got his power back. Unfortunately, well, you know what happened next." Zeniba looked out the window, remembering.

Oukami paused in his munching. "You mean my sensei?"

She nodded. "I was actually very happy when I heard you killed him," she said, not seeing the shuttered look in Oukami's eyes. "Though," she continued, "after you started decimating villages and powerful spirits my opinion of you dropped a fair bit."

Oukami roughly grabbed another hunk of cheese and tore his teeth through it, frowning.

"But, you seem to have stopped that past-time of yours now," she observed.

"I got better," he said shortly.

Zeniba nodded. "It's not wise to learn from a demon, or to kill one either. Especially if they're powerful. Seems like you found that out the hard way." She smiled slightly, then changed the topic, "So how did you end up with Chihiro's friends?"

"Oh." He pulled out of his reverie, mentally berating himself. "Your twin asked me to capture the dragon for her, though I decided that they were more exciting so I stuck with them instead."

Zeniba nodded. Through the window she could see Kaonashi and Rin wandering aimlessly around the meadow, and Chihiro and Haku lying side by side, watching the clouds travelling across the endless sky. After a moment of contemplating, she said, "You know, they're made for each other."

"Who?"

"Haku and Chihiro."

"Yeah, I know. That's why I'm going to do them a favour." Zeniba gave him a questioning look, so he elaborated, feeling that she deserved an explanation no matter how small it was. "I'm going to those stuck-up Great spirits to ask them if the human can stay, here in the spirit world."

"Becoming less of a demon, hmm?" She cast an amused glance at him.

"Maybe," he replied evasively, rising from his seat.

"Haku's already asked them," she added.

His hand stopped on the doorknob. "They said 'no', didn't they?"

Without another word he left, walking around the cottage until he reached the side which faced the meadow. He leant against the cool stone wall, thinking and watching the four of them enjoying themselves. Slowly his focus was drawn to the dragon and the human lying amid the grass, pointing out certain clouds to each other and laughing occasionally. He could see the pure, genuine delight they had in each other's company, something he could barely remember himself doing. Now, he could only guess, and hope, that he was once like them. And the worst thing about forgetting those innocent days was that he had no one to blame for it, no one to blame except for himself for turning into a demon.

Disgusted, he pushed himself off the wall and blurred into his wolf form. He had been acting strange lately; maybe flying would clear his mind of unnecessary, sentimental thoughts. He just needed to keep moving forward.

* * *

Through the sparse clouds he could see the green dissolving into wasteland. The Five Pillars were looming quickly in the distance. Oukami had some idea of what prank he would pull on them this time, though part of it would be improvisation as well.

Hovering above the huge sandstone structure with thick clouds between them, he readied the first part of his plan, his tongue lolling with laughter at his ingenuity. The only drawback to his pranks on the Great spirits was that they knew it was him doing it, but they didn't know _what_ he was going to do. That was the best part though.

From below, it seemed like the clouds jetted thick streams of fire that set alight the sandstone, turning it into a roaring furnace. Over the blaze Oukami could hear the cries of surprise as the spirits hurried to put out the blaze. Setting fire to stone was one of the best tricks. He grinned, readying his next step.

Once Mizu Kami had watered down the structure completely so that it was satisfyingly wet, he unleashed a bolt of lightning which zipped through the water, and hopefully electrocuted them. From what he could hear, that part of the plan worked too. Then he got an idea.

He added thick, dense fog to the surrounding area before dipping towards the cracked, dry ground, changing back as he did so. With the help of compressed air shaped by his hands, he sliced his way underground.

On the platform, all five spirits were completely peeved, muttering to themselves and twitching ever so slightly from the after-effects of being electrocuted. They looked frequently up at the sky, trying to gauge when the next attack was coming. They had all been taken by surprise by the first attack, not to mention that burning stone was completely unexpected, and had subsequently fallen into the trap that ended up with them looking like they were now.

"Where is that demon!" Inochi Kami seethed while fixing the charred holes in her flowing dark green dress. "I swear I'll kill him this time!"

"That's my job," Shi Kami said darkly.

Suddenly the platform they all stood on vaulted inwards, and they all toppled in amidst the rubble except for Kuuki Kami and Shi Kami who were quick enough to fly out.

Atop the pillar, Oukami waved down at them before descending into a helpless fit of laughter. The looks on their faces was priceless.

"Tsukioukami!" Chikiu Kami raged. "Get down here!"

Oukami couldn't reply, almost out of breath from laughing so hard.

Suddenly an earthen fist connected with his stomach, knocking him off the top of the pillar. Oukami gave a silent yelp of surprise, plummeting out of control towards the ground and landing with a hard thud on his side. He rolled over once and lay still.

"Maybe you killed him?" Mizu Kami asked hopefully while peering through the fog for any movement.

"I hope so," Chikiu Kami grated.

"But I doubt it," Kuuki Kami said. "Besides, killing a demon like him is a very bad idea."

They floated down and gathered around him at a safe distance, watching as he groaned and pushed himself up to a sitting position, testing his joints for broken bones. Luckily for Oukami he was unscathed, though his head and left shoulder hurt terribly. Glaring at them all, he growled, "What was that for?"

Chikiu Kami glared back, shouting, "What was _that_ for?" He jabbed an angry finger at the smouldering ruins.

"It was a freaking prank!" Oukami yelled back. "What were _you_ trying to do? Kill me?"

"Yes!" he roared.

Oukami rubbed his throbbing head. "Well…thanks," he retorted sarcastically.

"So what did you come here for?" Inochi Kami demanded. "Just for one stupid, failed prank?"

"It wasn't really a failure," Kuuki Kami gestured around at the destruction, "but it was stupid all right." Oukami couldn't help but agree.

"So?" Mizu Kami prompted.

"Oh, right." Oukami forced a grin. "I just dropped by to tell you about that human, like where she is so you can send her back."

Five sets of eyes regarded him suspiciously, and Inochi Kami voiced what they were all thinking. "From the rumours we heard, we thought you were helping the dragon and his human, opening _illegal_ portals across our world."

Oukami laughed, though it did nothing to ease the soreness in his side. "So that tricked you too? Well, that was one of my elaborate pranks. I can't wait to see their expressions when they learn I planned this from the beginning," he chuckled.

"So…the whole thing was one big prank?"

"Yep!" Oukami widened his grin.

"And we're supposed to trust you?" Shi Kami asked dubiously.

"Hey, I'll get her myself if you like. However," he added, crossing his arms, "since I'll be doing you a favour to rid the stinking human of this world, all of you must promise that you won't attack me – and this includes random times like when I'm sleeping, it gets really annoying to deal with you. Anyway, no attacking for at least another five hundred years. Deal?"

Suspicion dissolved to pondering, and finally they agreed. "Deal."

"Cool. Now I'll just get going…" he trailed off as he picked himself up, wincing as he did so.

"Kuuki," Chikiu Kami said suddenly, "go with him."

"_Me?_" she asked incredulously.

"You have to make sure he doesn't run off," Inochi Kami said, mockingly conspirational.

"I know that!" she snapped. To Oukami, she grumbled, "Come on."

They flew in complete silence, late afternoon stretching to sunset, and sunset to nightfall. At last the small cottage came into view, lit only by the lamp that hung in the thin archway outside. Kuuki Kami swooped down and landed on it. The lamp below her began to squeak in warning, but she just gave it an irritated look and silenced it with a wave of magic.

Meanwhile, Oukami had nosed open the window and stealthily slipped inside. Carefully masking his presence, he changed back and tiptoed over to where Chihiro was sleeping peacefully. He knelt next to her and touched his fingers lightly to her forehead. A soft green light flared, then died away quickly. He moved to pick her up, but then thought of something. Pressing his palm to her forehead again, he murmured a few words before a sharp purple light sliced through the inky darkness before slowly fading away. It really wasn't his style to say the spell out loud, but he needed that one to work perfectly.

He slung Chihiro over his shoulder and turned around, when suddenly a distinctive voice yelled on his right, "Hey!"

Oukami didn't wait. He flew out the window and rocketed to the sky, not looking back to see Rin's angry, shocked expression. He reached Kuuki Kami who hovered impatiently beside a small portal that was hidden in the clouds. "It leads to another portal, and that one will lead to the human world," she explained, taking the unconscious human from him and flying through. Oukami followed close behind.

They emerged in a boulder-filled area with blackish soil that completely covered the ground, right beside a vertical cliff that looked like it used to be a waterfall. Pressed against it was a large portal, with Inochi Kami and Shi Kami standing side by side. Shi Kami shut the portal they had just come through while Inochi took Chihiro, just as she stirred.

"Where are we?" she asked Oukami, taking in her unfamiliar surroundings. Suddenly she was wide awake and twisting out of the Great spirit's arms. "What's going on?"

Inochi took her wrist firmly. "We're returning you to your world."

"What?" Panic began to build up inside her as Inochi pulled her towards the large portal. She fought the spirit, straining to release the steel grip on her arm while shouting, "I don't want to go! Haku, he – I want to stay here!" Her voice rose frantically.

"You're not a spirit," Inochi said calmly. The portal's entrance loomed closer.

"So?" she cried, digging her heels into the unyielding rock. "You can't do this! I _belong _here! With Haku!"

"He doesn't want you," she lied through her teeth.

Chihiro shook her head violently in denial, feeling like she had been thrown into a nightmare. "No, he does, I know it! Ask him yourself!" But Inochi Kami didn't slow her pace, and Chihiro turned desperately to Oukami in a last-ditch attempt.

He allowed himself a small smirk as he looked on from behind Kuuki Kami and Shi Kami. "Dragons lie all the time," he answered her unspoken question.

"I thought you were our friend!" she screamed, feeling shaken, angry and frightened all at once as the reality of the situation was finally hit home.

"Demons don't have friends."

That was the last thing she heard before the thick darkness smothered her.

* * *

I'm still not happy with that last little section with Chihiro. Is it too quick? You guys tell me!

Now, before you all disappear, I'd like to thank all my reviewers! Fourteen reviews for that chapter! Thank you everyone! And a special thank you to Keetra for being very very helpful!

One more thing. I want to change the title of this story. So, all you guys can give me titles and I'll decide which one I like best by the end of the story! Start sending! (Actually, does anyone want to keep the current title?)


	19. Akio and Yuuko

Yo everyone! First of all, I shall explain the long wait. I was busy working on my original story (amongst other things), which, by the way, is not posted on fictionpress. Not yet.

**I CHANGED THE SUMMARY LAST CHAPTER. **I suspect that's why some of the usual reviewers didn't review the last chapter because they didn't recognise this story when it came through their email.

Anyway, thank you to all the suggestions of possible titles for this story!

Also, I'd like to mention that this chapter was written really, really fast, believe it or not (yes, the one month wait…). I think I wrote about 2000 words today. I don't usually do that – it's usually 300 words per hour. 0.0;; That's called super-high quality. I think.

Special thanks to Randomosity, your really kind (and humorous!) review made me start writing this chapter. If you didn't review no one would be seeing another chapter for a very, very long time.

* * *

**Chapter 19**

The chilly wind rushed past her, tangling her hair and drying her tear-stained cheeks. To Chihiro, it felt strangely comforting. Then something in her mind clicked and her eyes snapped open.

The starry midnight blue carpet was falling away from her. A stray thought of its beauty flickered across her mind before it hit her – she was plummeting towards the ground, fast. Her heart leapt to her throat and she gave a soundless scream as she slowly twisted her body with unerring grace so that she could see where she was falling. The layers of fluffy clouds rushed up to meet her, and she clutched desperately at their deceptive thickness. Then they parted before her.

A city lay out below her. She could see the neon lights blinking lazily from skyscrapers, shouting out company names. Further away, houses sprawled over the horizon.

The ground was much closer now, she noted detachedly. She could see the highways and streets, even the individual twinkling car headlights. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable impact.

Suddenly someone grabbed her arm, almost yanking it out of the socket. Then they were speeding upwards, and Chihiro tightly clutched the cold smooth hand in her own. Suddenly they came to an abrupt halt and she looked around.

They were hovering just above the smoky, swirling clouds. Chihiro looked up at her rescuer, and almost lost her grip on the hand.

"Don't let go of me again!" Inochi snapped, her animalistic eyes blazing with annoyance.

Chihiro flinched and looked down at the clouds fixedly.

"I have to take you home," the spirit muttered. "Isn't that a nuisance?" She looked down at Chihiro when she said nothing, clearly looking halfway between surprised and infuriated. "Well?" she snapped impatiently. "Show me where you live!"

Chihiro thought quickly. If she didn't say anything, then maybe the spirit would take her back to Haku. But that was unlikely, considering that her demeanour was of one who wouldn't care less if she fell again. Chihiro had a strong suspicion that Inochi only saved her from falling because someone told her not to let anything happen to her, and Chihiro was thankful for that. On the other hand, however, if she told Inochi where she lived, then she would see her parents again.

Her parents! She had almost forgotten about them. Her guilty conscience rose up inside her and ashamedly, she realised that they must be have been so worried.

Something must have showed on her face because Inochi rested her hand lightly on her forehead, much the same way as Haku did when she first stumbled upon the spirit world. She flashed images to the spirit in her mind; the highway to the town, the streets and twists and turns needed to get there, and finally the house itself.

Inochi scowled. "Your home is blue," she commented.

"What?" Chihiro asked with a touch of defiance.

"Blue is a disgusting colour," she replied disdainfully. Then together they began to fly through the clouds in silence which left Chihiro to ponder on her strange, tactless remark.

It was some time later when they finally drifted gently down to the end of the street behind a clump of trees, well out of sight of the houses where sharp eyes could be watching. Chihiro only recognised the place because she and Naruko often played there during their many fantasy games.

"Your home should be just down the road," Inochi said, and without another word she flew away, disappearing behind the thick clouds.

Suddenly feeling very alone, Chihiro hurriedly jogged around the trees, across the grassy park and onto the pavement, her bare feet making dull, ringing noises with each step on the concrete. Soon she could see her house, just up ahead, looking the same as always, except…it was in complete darkness.

Chihiro slowed, worry overtaking her anticipation at seeing her parents again. Stopping in front of the gate, she saw the garden covered in weeds and overgrown grass. The rose bushes her mother loved were now dying, and the letterbox was half open. Chihiro leaned over the gate to see most of the letters scattered in the dirt below. Swallowing hard, she looked up at the front door, suddenly fearful of what she would find inside, before straightening resolutely and marching right up to the door.

First she tried pushing it open, but finding it locked she then bent down and pulled out from under the doormat what her parents called the 'emergency key' in case one of them was locked outside. Her hands shook as she fumbled with the keyhole. At last the lock clicked and she half-opened the door, her fear escalating in the pit of her stomach once again. Holding her breath, she reached out to flick the corridor light on. It flickered ominously a couple of times but stayed on. Then she cautiously peered around the door, expecting the worst.

But there was nothing.

She let out a breath, easing the door open just enough to slip through. Then she backed up against the door, pushing it until it clicked shut again.

The floor was extremely dusty, she noted with surprise. So was the small rectangular table against the wall. That proved no one had been inside for a long time.

Her gaze wandered down the corridor with a slight apprehension before snapping back to the table. She hadn't noticed it before, but there was a folded piece of paper on it.

She quietly walked over and unfolded it slowly, sneezing as the dust rose from it. Then she began to read.

_Chihiro, if you're still…around… We've moved to our old apartment. Come and see us, we're so worried about you. – Mum and Dad._

Chihiro reread the note twice before realisation hit her in the face. She could clearly imagine how worried her father would be, and her mother…! She had left without any explanation, and now they had moved back to the city, probably months ago when they finally gave up hope of her ever returning.

"Well then," a voice said behind her.

Chihiro shrieked in surprise, whirling around and backing up against the table.

The voice chuckled with amusement, and gradually Oukami shimmered into view.

"What…what are you doing here?" Chihiro managed to stammer out.

"Technically, I'm not here," Oukami replied, gesturing down at himself. Only then did she realise that he was transparent. "I'm still in the spirit world, but I've just come to visit. Oh, and about before, it had to be done."

"Why?" Chihiro asked, her anger overriding her shock at his sudden appearance.

"Isn't it obvious?" he grinned. "They think you've gone home safely, no more messing in their world and so on; they won't be suspecting anything. In fact, when you return, they won't even know! For a while anyway," he added hastily. "But that gives you enough time to get a job at the bathhouse, which binds you to our world for as long as the contract states. Therefore, they can't kick you out again, back to here, because only Yubaba can destroy your contract, which she won't since she likes to pick on you. Or so Rin says. Ah, I'm a genius," he said immodestly, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back with his feet off the floor, looking very much like relaxing on thin air.

Chihiro said nothing, reading the note over and over again. Then she looked up and said, "I have to see my parents. I have to explain to them…"

"What?" Oukami looked shocked. "Don't you care about your dragon?"

"Of course I do! And I care about my parents too!" she said heatedly.

"Whatever," he said, righting himself.

Chihiro set the note down and grabbed the few coins in the small bowl in the table. She counted them out; luckily there was just enough to get her to Tokyo, where she and her parents used to live in that apartment before moving here. Then she grabbed her sneakers from the shoe cupboard and put them on. Oukami in the meantime had walked through the wall while Chihiro opened the door.

They set off down the street, Chihiro walking quickly and Oukami drifting lazily above her head. She would never admit it, but she was glad that Oukami was around. Her neighbourhood was fairly safe, but beyond that…

She only waited at the bus stop for half an hour before the bus came. Chihiro sat down near the back and looked around. She was the only one riding at this time, which was eleven at night, according to the digital clock on the bus.

If buses were scarce at this hour, the trains were even more so. Being the last stop on the route, trains only came every hour, and Chihiro had missed the previous one by ten minutes. Sitting on the bench on the platform, she couldn't help shuddering; the cold was biting into her skin even as she rubbed her arms and legs in an effort to stay warm.

On board the train, once she had shut all the windows, she began to warm up again. The empty carriage rattled worryingly as the train sped towards Tokyo.

Chihiro sat opposite Oukami, half-watching him lie back on the seat as she had nothing else to do. Inwardly, she was debating on whether to ask him the question that had been bothering her ever since she had left the house. Finally she decided this time was as good as any.

"Oukami?" she asked quietly. He cracked one violet eye open questioningly. "Did you tell Haku and Rin what you were planning?"

"Nope." He sat up, obviously just realising something. "Do you think they'll be angry?"

Chihiro fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Yes," she replied. "Haku especially."

"I see," he mused.

"Why didn't you tell them, though?" Chihiro pressed.

He glared at her. "Isn't it obvious? What if those spirits read their minds? Then all this would have been for nothing. You're so dense," he muttered.

Chihiro was about to retort that he was just as dense when understanding others feelings, but she decided against mentioning it at the last moment. She didn't want him to leave her alone on the train with no one to keep her company. Then another question occurred to her. "You know," she began slowly, "on the first time I returned here, I couldn't remember anything that happened in the spirit world. But this time, I can still remember. Why?"

"Idiot," he grumbled. "I put a spell on you, so that you wouldn't forget."

"You did?" she asked, surprised.

"Yes," he snapped.

Chihiro didn't say another word for the rest of the journey.

* * *

The elevator was rising slowly. Too slowly, it seemed, and at the same time, too quickly.

Chihiro glanced sideways at Oukami, who was surveying the buttons embedded in the metallic wall with interest. He seemed to particularly like the 'alarm' button, which stated below that it was only to be used in emergencies. Chihiro knew what was going through the Trickster's head.

The doors hissed open at level eighteen, and Chihiro slowly stepped out. Walking down the carpeted corridor, she counted the doors, stopping at the fourth one. Then she rang the doorbell, three times, while nervously fidgeting. Finally the heavy door opened, her father peering out from behind it with a sleepy expression that slowly turned to disbelief. Behind him her mother was craning her neck over his broad shoulder.

"Chihiro?" he asked uncertainly. She just nodded, not daring to speak lest the great well of emotions inside her got out of control.

Suddenly her father threw open the flyscreen door and enveloped her in a huge bear hug. "Dad…" she choked, feeling like the air had been squeezed out of her.

He let go, and before she could get her breath back her mother hugged her long and hard as well. When they finally broke apart, Chihiro was surprised at the minimal amount of tears leaking out from her eyes, considering that her mother was sobbing into her hands and her father had taken out his handkerchief and was now blowing his nose like a foghorn. Then he propelled her inside, closely followed by Yuuko.

Once inside, they seated her on the sofa and almost frantically checked her over; her mother asking over and over again, "Are you okay, darling?" During her parents' examination Chihiro glanced up once to see Oukami looking mildly disgusted at the proceedings.

At last they both stepped away and sat down together on the opposite sofa. Chihiro almost laughed; now they were treating her like a fragile porcelain doll.

"Where have you been?" Akio asked first.

Chihiro opened her mouth, then shut it. How to explain something that hardly seemed believable to anyone but herself?

"Make it up," Oukami advised from the sidelines.

Chihiro bit her lip uncertainly. She couldn't lie to her parents. Not now, not after the hell she had put them through. She studied their faces carefully, seeing worry lines that hadn't been there before. Decision reached, she shook her head slightly in Oukami's direction, to which he smirked knowingly but didn't object any further.

"I…" she trailed off, then began again. "I'm going to sound weird, but you have to believe me. Promise?" Her parents nodded solemnly, and Chihiro let out a relieved sigh. To the side Oukami let out a snort of contempt and muttered, "Humans have one-track minds." Chihiro decided to ignore that comment for now.

Then she told them everything about the spirit world, what she had done and where she had been the past few months, leaving out no details, though she did gloss a little over the part where she thought Haku was going to die – the thought of him being so surprisingly vulnerable still made her uncomfortable, even though everything turned out fine in the end.

She didn't miss the increasingly sceptical look on her father's face, but Chihiro expected that. Her father didn't believe anything he didn't see with his own eyes, but she hoped to convince him, somehow, by the end of it. Her mother though, was listening attentively and that was a good sign.

Once she finished, her recount was met with absolute silence. Chihiro looked anxiously back and forth at them. At last Yuuko said, "Honey, maybe you should get some rest."

She stood up, and Chihiro did too. "You don't believe me?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"You can tell us the truth in the morning," Akio said from his place on the sofa.

"It is the truth!" Chihiro protested. "I'm not joking about the spirit world; it's like my home!" Her mother simply patted her sympathetically on the shoulder.

"This is pointless," Oukami observed. "I'm taking you back now."

Chihiro nodded sadly before turning to address her parents. "Mum, Dad, I have to go soon. Oukami's making a portal right now. You'll be able to see him in a moment."

"You're hallucinating," Akio said gruffly.

Suddenly the familiar black oval with crackling edges appeared between the two sofas, and Akio and Yuuko jumped with fright and clung to each other. "That's the portal I was talking about," Chihiro explained.

Oukami poked his head out from the shadowy blackness. "Hurry up," he said to Chihiro, making Yuuko shriek in terror and clutch her husband even more tightly.

"Don't worry," she said, trying not to laugh, "It's only Oukami, though I guess he can be rather scary sometimes." Chihiro gave her trembling parents a hug. Everything was happening too fast. She had been with her parents less than ten minutes, and now she was leaving again. But she smiled, knowing that she had to return now. Haku was waiting for her. Quietly, she added, "Don't worry, I'll come and visit soon. I promise."

Then she let go and walked to the portal, stopping just next to it. With a final wave and a reassuring smile, she turned and plunged into the darkness, back to the spirit world, and Haku.

* * *

It just occurred to me that that line, "Ah, I'm a genius," is from the Lion King, said by Simba after they have that song where Zazu gets trampled/tortured/flattened by all those animals. Ooh, that was random.

Oh yeah, let's shove a disclaimer here again. I don't own Spirited Away.

Remember to review, so that I'll stop stressing over this chapter. Thank you!


	20. Prelude

Back with another update! (Sorry for the wait!)

You might've noticed that I've changed the title for the story to _Across Two Worlds_, suggested by **een** **nihc**. Thanks again! It's a better title than _It's Easy To Forget_, isn't it?

**Last chapter: Chihiro returned to her parents for a short while before Oukami whisked her away again…**

Anyway, on with the story. Oh, I disclaim, once again.

* * *

**Chapter 20**

Chihiro slid off Oukami's glossy silver back and walked, slightly apprehensive towards the boiler room door. "So I have to convince Yubaba to give me a job again before the Great spirits realise I'm still in this world, and you call that easy?" she asked as a way of summing up what he had just said. When she glanced behind her though, Oukami was gone.

With an exasperated sigh at his abruptness, she pushed open the door. Walking down the steamy corridor quietly she couldn't help but edge around the corner like she had done when she was ten years old. She watched the susuwatari go about their tedious job with a smile on her face before she stepped out in full view and called, "Kamaji, I'm back!"

"Sen!" he exclaimed before promptly glomping her with all his available arms. Then he worriedly looked past her. "Where is Haku and Rin?"

"I don't know," she answered truthfully, "but they're probably still with Zeniba. I'm just here to get a job."

"What?" Kamaji asked, not believing his ears.

"Well…" she faltered, "it's a long story. I'll explain after I convince Yubaba to take me on again." Quickly, she crawled over to the panel in the wall and slid it open.

"Sen!" Kamaji shouted after her. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"I'll explain that too when I get back!" she replied before sliding the panel shut with a small click.

Rising up through the lifts and past the many floors, she encountered no one along her way. She guessed most spirits were still asleep at this early hour, and she was glad for it. She needed this quiet time to mentally steel herself for Yubaba's onslaught of vile insults that was sure to come.

Finally the lift doors parted at the topmost floor, and Chihiro stepped out and quickly walked across the cold tiled floor. Reaching the huge, ornate double doors, she firmly grabbed the doorknocker and knocked loudly. "Ow…I remember you," the doorknocker groused before opening the doors with a grudging creak. Chihiro smiled and walked through confidently, not wishing to land on her head like last time. Behind her, the doorknocker called after her, "Next time don't knock so hard!"

"Okay!" she replied cheerfully, to which the doorknocker grumbled even more.

She walked through the well-lit mazelike corridors, almost getting lost on the way, but finally she found Yubaba's quarters. Once inside, she looked around. Little had changed; the place still held its gaudy cluttered look though it was messier than she last remembered it. Yubaba wasn't there either.

Chihiro briefly considered waiting for a while, but then she remembered the cord that Yubaba had pulled to call Haku. It was still hanging there, so she took a chance, reaching up and pulling down hard while hoping that she wouldn't be in too much trouble for this. However, the only person that appeared at one of the many doors leading out of the room was a girl in a plain dark green yukata, slightly taller than Chihiro and with long silvery blonde hair tied back in a loose ponytail. "Ah, I thought it wasn't Yubaba," she said, walking in with the three heads bouncing after her. "Do you want a job?" she asked.

"Um…yes!" Chihiro nodded, and without thinking she asked, "Who are you?"

The girl, who was tugging a piece of paper out of the box on Yubaba's desk, unexpectedly spun around with a flourish and grinned like a child, her eyes curving upwards. "My name's Konta, pleased to meet you! I'm Yubaba's apprentice!"

"Konta…?" Chihiro repeated while taking the brush and the clean sheet of paper from her.

"Yep!" She waited until Chihiro wrote her name, then bent down and picked it up. "And you're Ogino Chihiro? Nice to meet you!"

Suddenly Bou crashed through the door with a broad smile on his face, the tiny Yu-bird perched on his shoulder. "Kontaaaaa! Please finish that story! And do you have any more sweets?" he begged with large, adorable eyes.

"Oh?" she replied with a cheeky smile, not at all fazed by his big-eyed look – unlike Chihiro – while digging around in her pockets and finally fishing out four pink sweets delicately shaped into little spirals.

Bou gurgled happily and reached out to Konta, saying, "Two for me, two for you!"

Konta shook her head and said, "We have a visitor, so we have to share!"

Bou suddenly noticed Chihiro who was standing quietly to one side and watching the scene play out with wide eyes. "Sen!" he cried, launching himself at her and grabbing her in a bone-shattering hug.

"Chihiro," Konta corrected. "You worked here before?" It wasn't really a question.

"Y-yeah," Chihiro replied, startled that she knew.

"The workers still talk about you." she smiled, then cocked her head to one side and with childlike curiosity she asked, "You thought I was going to steal your name?" Chihiro nodded mutely, and Konta laughed. "Well, Yubaba still does but I haven't made it a habit too. Aren't you lucky you ran into me first?"

Then Bou came up from behind and picked her up, raising the slim girl up to his shoulders. "Sweets!" he begged her.

"All right," she replied, tossing one into his wide mouth and happily watching as he savoured the sugary taste. Then Konta looked down at Chihiro who was gaping slightly at the sight in front of her. "Would you like one too, Chihiro-san?" she asked politely.

Chihiro's astonished expression faded slightly. "Yes please," she smiled, accepting the sweet. As she sucked on it she realised it was deliciously addictive, just as Konta's childish, bubbly personality was contagious.

"Hey, Chihiro-san," Konta said, popping a sweet in her mouth before jumping off Bou's shoulder lightly. She sat on the plush, carpeted floor and patted the space on the left of her for Chihiro to sit down too, while on her right Bou joined her. Opposite her the three heads bounced over, and seeing their expectant looks on their greenish faces she guessed, "You want the last sweet?"

"But you said I would have two!" Bou protested, though Chihiro noted that there was no demanding tone behind those words.

"I lied!" Konta said gaily.

"You're so mean!" Bou pretended to cry and chase her around the room (and causing a mini-earthquake with his heavy footsteps), never quite catching her while Konta always stayed within arm's reach of Bou. Chihiro couldn't help laughing while the three heads sighed to one another. After they had circled the room at least ten times, Konta let Bou catch her. "Give me the sweet!" he said, triumphantly plucking it out of her grasp. His chubby fingers broke the sweet into three pieces with surprising dexterity, and the heads bounded over and each took a piece from his outstretched palm.

Meanwhile Konta was staring out the window at the darkening evening sky with an oddly piercing expression. Below her in the streets the restaurants were beginning to open and the bridge leading to the bathhouse started to fill with customers lining up to enter, but nowhere could she sense Yubaba. "Chihiro-san," she said, ceasing all small chatter from behind her. Suddenly she turned around and beamed. "You're a bit late for work, and Yubaba is also late, so why don't you stay with us for today? It's storytelling time!" she exclaimed, retaking her position in the circle. "You first, Chihiro-san."

"Um…what kind of story?" she asked uncertainly.

"Hmm…" Konta thought for a moment, then her expression brightened and she suggested, "Why not tell us how you came here the first time?"

"Okay…" Chihiro said slowly while trying to think quickly. There wasn't anything wrong with telling Konta – who was really a complete stranger and Yubaba's new apprentice no less – and the others about her first trip to the spirit world, was there? A quick mental overview of the past events found nothing too secret, so Chihiro began, albeit a little hesitantly before warming up to her story. No one moved an inch throughout her entrancing tale except for Konta who merely waved her hand to dim the lights for the perfect atmosphere.

* * *

When Rin was angry, she snapped. When Kohaku was angry, he brooded. As a result, Zeniba's patience was wearing thin from the outbursts of verbal sniping when each got on each other's nerves over the past few days. At the moment they were again having a go at each other, and Zeniba couldn't stand it any longer. Stepping outside and walking away from her cottage across the fields, she admired the bright moon against the dappled blue, so much that she almost missed the shadow against the moon. 

It was heading directly for her, and as the shape neared her eyes bulged as she recognised the wolf shape. Then they narrowed; she would make him pay for taking Chihiro and making Kohaku and Rin give her no peace of mind.

Suddenly a white blur shot past her shoulder and streaked through the air to collide directly with the wolf and taking him down with him. Rin had found a wooden rod and held it half-raised, already preparing to strike once they reached the ground.

In a tumble of scales and fur, they collided with the ground and the dragon quickly rolled and pinned the wolf down, using his larger size to his advantage. He growled angrily at Oukami just as he was shifting form. "Hey wait!" Oukami protested, wriggling under Kohaku's tightening hold. "I'll explain!" The dragon's tail thrashed around and the sharp canines loomed closer. "Chihiro's safe," he said hurriedly. "I pretended to side with those spirits so that they would believe she's still in the human world."

Rin had come up next to Kohaku with a strange, blank look in her eyes. "Where is she now?"

"Aburaya," Oukami managed out – Haku's grip was starting to get unbearably tight.

She gave him a long look before she said, "Haku, let go of him." He growled at her, but Rin explained, "I saw him," she gestured at her eyes, "and he's telling the truth."

Kohaku recalled what Rin had told him about her ability a few days ago, so he slowly stepped off and blurred back, and Oukami stood up quickly as well. "Why did you take her to Yubaba?" he demanded.

"So she can get a job, because then those spirits can't take her back until her contract has expired," he grinned.

Kohaku suddenly had a strong urge to shake some sense into him roughly while Rin could've sworn the temperature dropped several degrees. "Did it ever occur to you that Yubaba could turn her into a pig?" he bit out while trying to keep his shaking hands at his sides.

"Uh…oops?" Oukami grinned brightly.

At that moment, Kohaku loathed that happy, unconcerned expression more than ever. A torrent of raw emotions crashed through him – anger, hate, worry for Chihiro's safety, and without thinking he struck the smaller spirit, sending him stumbling backwards. He could tell Oukami wasn't expecting that from the way he hurried to block, and it only fuelled his anger more. He lashed out bitingly, "You don't care about anyone but yourself, do you!" He hit him squarely on the chest this time, sending him flying back several metres but he didn't miss the strange expression that crossed his face – it didn't match his usual demeanour. But Haku dismissed that thought and slammed back into Oukami, pinning him down with minimal effort. It gave him an odd sense of satisfaction, just seeing that overwhelming him could be so easy. He bared his fangs and growled, "If anything happened to Chihiro I'll –"

"Stop it Haku!"

He looked up to see Rin pointing her rod directly at him. "Get off him," she commanded.

For the second time in a minute, Kohaku slowly rose to his feet and stood to one side. Rin glanced worriedly at Oukami who had sat up and was staring blankly ahead before rounding on Haku. "Stop being childish, dragon. It's one thing to be possessive of Sen, it's another thing to take it out on someone else. Did you really think for a moment why he stayed with us for so long? Did you wonder why he helped us escape from Yubaba _twice_, or why he opened all those portals for us everywhere? Of course not." She glared at him and Haku quickly looked away, shamefaced. From his silence Rin guessed that she had made her point.

Then she crouched down next to Oukami and studied his vacant expression before waving her hand in front of his eyes. He started and reflexively struck out but Rin was expecting it so she managed to block. "You okay there?" she asked. When he nodded she grinned and gave him a hand up.

From behind them Zeniba suddenly announced, "My sister's here."

"What?" Rin spun around and squinted at the spot Haku pointed at. She could just make out a pair of large telltale wings.

Some distance away, Zeniba was casting a spell and slowly but gradually getting faster the blades of grass swirled around her before rocketing directly to Yubaba. She gracefully dodged the sharp projectiles with the ease of a more streamlined bird, but the blades of grass gained on her as she plunged toward the ground. Near the ground she banked and conjured a shield of fire before flying straight into the storm of needles, leaving behind a flurry of dry grass that drifted gently to the ground.

Zeniba frowned and said, "You three, don't get involved." Her eyes never left Yubaba who was turning around for another attack. "Go to Aburaya and see if Chihiro is all right," she ordered.

"But…" Oukami protested, itching for a fight.

"No!" she snapped. "This is between me and my sister. Go."

Kohaku didn't need to be told twice; he had already begun to fly even before Zeniba finished her sentence. Rin climbed up on Oukami's back and took off after him. She glanced back once to see Zeniba providing an explosive distraction. Then Oukami increased his speed a little to keep Kohaku in his sight, and behind them the cottage disappeared into the distance.

As they flew, Rin pondered the previous events between Oukami and Haku. She didn't know what possessed her to say that to Haku. It must have been unexpected, she mused; she had noticed Zeniba looking strangely at her afterwards. She wondered if what she did was normal, sticking up for a world-renowned demon. Then again, what Haku did wasn't normal either, though it could be argued that he was worried for Sen and some dragon instinct kicked in. Well, whatever it was, she didn't know and didn't care at the moment either. It was freezing cold after flying into the wind for several hours non-stop, and she was starting to go numb.

She looked back and forth at the dragon and wolf she rode on. Earlier on when they first started out, they both kept their distance but soon after Haku turned to look at Oukami and something inexplicable passed between them. However Rin would have been willing to bet anything it was an apology of sorts. She smiled a little then; for Haku it was probably easier to apologise in his dragon form. Previously she had gotten the impression that he wasn't too comfortable in his humanoid form.

It was a relief when Aburaya appeared on the horizon several more hours later. Oukami followed Haku down to the boiler room, and with a slight movement of his head the door opened and Haku flew through without slowing. He changed back and yelled over the noise of the boiler, "Kamaji, have you seen Chihiro?"

"Haku!" Kamaji exclaimed, peering at him closely. "Hmm…she said she was going to Yubaba's office to – hey, what's the hurry? What's going on?"

Kohaku had already flown out the door, leaving Rin to yell, "We'll explain later!" Then she and Oukami took off after the dragon, leaving Kamaji to grumble to himself, "That's what they've both been telling me."

Oukami reached the top floor just in time to see Haku snake through an open window. Once inside he changed back and ran after Haku, Rin following as fast as she could while trying to ease her stiff joints from the ride.

Kohaku burst into the office, startling the three heads, Bou, the Yu-bird, Konta and Chihiro. "Haku!" Chihiro said, surprised.

He had almost started forward with every intention to hug her and check if she was okay, but when he realised the others were curiously observing him he restrained himself and instead turned his embarrassment into irritation, directed at the girl in dark green. "Who are you?" he asked flatly.

She smiled, despite the hostile look directed at her. "My name's Konta, pleased to meet you."

"I'm Haku," he replied shortly.

"I'm Rin."

Oukami just grinned, and sure enough Konta recognised him. "Oukami-sama," she bowed respectfully. He blinked; he was definitely not expecting that. When was the last time someone attached that suffix to his name?

An uncomfortable silence descended on the group, finally broken by Chihiro who said, "Don't worry, you can trust her."

"Did she steal your name?" Rin asked cautiously. Chihiro shook her head and Rin relaxed somewhat. Suddenly a thought occurred to her and she whispered into Haku's ear, "Do you know where Yubaba keeps our real names?"

Haku shook his head slightly before thoughtfully staring at Konta and Bou. "I heard you," Konta said.

"Do you know then?" Rin asked.

"No, but we could always look!" She leapt to her feet and began to poke about in the drawers and cabinets around Yubaba's messy table while the others exchanged glances before splitting up to search as well. Kohaku was still suspicious though and kept an eye on the girl. He was concentrating on her so much that he didn't even notice Chihiro come up beside him. "Don't worry, she's a good person considering that she's probably controlled by Yubaba."

"She's her apprentice?" he asked, surprised. He would have never guessed.

Chihiro smiled. "Nothing like you either," she teased. "She wants to know her name as much as the other workers do."

"How do you know?" he asked curiously.

"She told me. She's really quite open."

Kohaku felt his suspicion ebb away a little.

"So what's been going on when I was away?" Chihiro asked, curious.

"Nothing much," he replied, leaving out the parts where he got so angry at Oukami since the others were still in hearing range, and that would be potentially embarrassing. "What about you?"

"I saw my parents again. They weren't really impressed when I told them the truth."

Kohaku chuckled and said, "Of course not."

On the other side of the room Rin was gazing in open wonder at the financial records she had found in one drawer. "Look at this," she said, "Yubaba is so filthy rich."

From over her shoulder, Oukami grinned cheekily and said, "All the more reason to cheat her to bankruptcy. Have you seen those money bags in the box over there?" He undid the knot on one bag and showed her his hand overspilling with gold.

"Wow…" Rin breathed, taking another bag and finding more gold. "She should pay us more – she's got way too much for it to be useful."

"Exactly!" Oukami nodded brightly and began to take as much gold as he could carry with Rin echoing his movements. Oukami smirked when he saw this and said, "I knew you had it in you."

Rin was confused for a moment before she realised what he was implying. "I'm doing this for all the workers," she said, a little angrily. "Maybe I can bribe Yubaba to give us back our names."

"I know, I was joking." He grinned wider when Rin looked even more irritated at him.

Suddenly a loud crash sounded in the adjacent room and they all jerked towards the noise. Then the door to the room slammed open and a raging, beady-eyed witch appeared with dark smudges on her face and dress. It took a moment for the individual identities of each person to sink in, but when it did, Yubaba raised an angry, shaking finger and screeched furiously at the top of her lungs, "How _dare_ you set foot in my bathhouse!" She breathed heavily, small wisps of smoke drifting from her overlarge nostrils and suddenly directed the brunt of her fury to Chihiro. "You! You're the one that started this! You've caused nothing but trouble since the day you came!"

A sizzling bolt of fire erupted around Yubaba and without warning it streaked directly towards Chihiro, moving so fast that all she could do was freeze in horror as the orange flames licked closer and closer.

* * *

A/N: As you can (hopefully) see, things are starting to kick off in the story – there aren't many more chapters to go and I hope to get this story finally finished in the next few weeks. (My evil conscience says, "_Wishful thinking!"_) 

So yep, between now and the next update, wonder what happens to Chihiro, and wonder what happened to Zeniba. And wonder about how the story's going to end too…

Some other notes:

I've re-uploaded chapters 6, 8 and 10 (no major changes though); chapter 6 because the 'sirs' that Haku uses to address the Great spirits are inconsistent with the rest of the story; chapter 8 because Konta used to be called Meko. I changed her name because I realised that it was Kame-ko (亀子), not Ka-me-ko, and you can't really shorten her name into Meko. And chapter 10 because I changed the Rotten Eyeball Inn to the Sakanameya (魚目屋) because it didn't really make sense to me that the town would be called Kagemori, but the inn would be in English. So! Sakana means fish, me means eye, and ya means shop/inn, and can also mean 'person who does …'. That's according to the dictionary anyway. I'm not calling it the Sakaname Inn since Aburaya…well, that's what I've been calling it. It's a matter of consistency, really. I couldn't translate from the Rotten Eyeball Inn so I stuck with the Fish Eye Inn. Does anyone know how to translate Rotten Eyeball anyway? Now that I think about it, Sakanameya is one long name for an inn…

By the way, if anyone wants to work out the kanji for Konta's name, do so! (I want to see what you all come up with!) Tell me in your review or send me a PM. And yes, Konta is the shortened name. Also, do towns have a suffix? Like the –mura suffix?

**_Review please!_** And thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, you're all wonderful at motivating lazy people like me. **Mini Me** motivates me at school too (and in various other ways...hehe), which is even cooler since afterwards I have something interesting to think about at school instead of listening to the teachers blab…


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